ATARAXIA • BELLAMY BLAKE

[ 3 6 ]

"I don't think they're here," I say. The three of us have been hiding in the trees by the village that Finn's map had lead us to for the past few hours. We've been waiting for it to get dark before moving in, but I really don't see the use.

Murphy had counted there to be about twenty-eight or so Grounders in the entire village, but none of them look like warriors, or any threat for that matter. There are children and elders, and as we watched them throughout the day, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. "They all seem like ordinary people just going about their day," I say.

"They're here," Finn insists. Whenever Murphy and I each have insinuated they aren't, he quickly dismisses us.

"Look, I get that you're worried about Raven, but—"

"Clarke," Murphy butts in.

"What?"

"Raven's at Alpha Station. He's looking for Clarke." Murphy side eyes Finn, who says nothing in return. His eyes are still fixed on the village that's now only lit up by a few stray torches. It's as if he thinks he'll miss something crucial if he looks away for even a second.

He has barely said a word ever since we parted ways with the others earlier. Only to tell us to hurry or to make us shut up whenever we'd doubt our mission. He's completely out of it, all wild eyes and stiff movements. Obsessed with this mission.

But wholeheartedly trusting the directions given by a Grounder with a gun to his head isn't exactly rational behavior. He could've drawn anything to save himself. Not that it got him anywhere.

"Go," Finn suddenly says. He sneaks out from between the trees and cautiously starts making his way into the village.

"What are you—This isn't part of the plan," I whisper-yell when he heads over to grab a torch.

Finn stops to look back at me. "I'm changing the plan," he says before walking over to a wooden shack.

"Son of a bitch," I say, forced to follow after him with Murphy doing the same, guns at the ready just in case.

"This is their food," Finn says before proceeding to toss his torch through the window.

All I can do is look at him. "We're here for our friends, not to cut off these people's food supply."

Without another word, Finn drags me with him and Murphy off to hide as the shack starts going up into flames.

Shortly after, the sound of a woman yelling can be heard, followed by the loud noise of a bell ringing. We watch as Grounders storm out of their homes and to the scene, one of them going inside the shack to save whatever food is salvageable while many others fetch buckets of water to put out the fire.

"Distraction. Not bad," Murphy says while we stay hidden, just watching the Grounders panic.

"Let's go," Finn says as he gets back up. I pull him back by the shoulder, forcing him to look at me.

"You want to make sure our friends aren't here even though they clearly aren't? Fine. We'll check the damn village," I say harshly to get my point across. "But you follow me, got it?"

I don't trust his judgment for a second. He's a nervous wreck, willing our friends, Clarke in particular, to be here. I can't have him running around wreaking havoc. He already lit their food supply on fire when he could have just done it to the firewood shed right next to it instead. He could have saved them so much trouble. But he didn't. He wanted to hurt them. Because his head is in the wrong space.

Finn doesn't answer me, but I take his silence as compliance. I gesture for them to follow me and I lead us around the back of a house. It's a small village. There's nowhere to keep anyone hostage. But I know we have to look through each and every house's windows before I can convince Finn to get the hell out of here.