Chapter 44 - Hostages

Last night was interesting, to say the least, since not only did I find out that Bellamy shot Lincoln when the grounders attacked our camp, but also because he was taken away by the Reapers when they ambushed Octavia, Nyko, Lincoln, and a woman named Indra, and while Octavia and Indra managed to save Nyko afterward, they didn't found Lincoln when they saved the rest of the prisoners. He may not be a friend of mine, but whether I like it or not, Lincoln helped us when we needed and just because of that reason, I am willing to go and search for him after we find Finn and Murphy as well as save our friends from Mount Weather.

By the time we reached the end of the map drawn by the grounder that Finn and Bellamy caught, the sun was already high in the sky.

Other than Octavia, Anya was the only one who knew where the village was located and because of that she and Octavia were leading the way while we were following their lead.

We stopped just a few meters away from an old monument covered in leaves and weeds, and when I looked at Octavia, who was in the front of our group, I saw her eyes tearing up as memories start resurging in her mind, most likely related to her lover. Seeing his baby sister in such a state, Bellamy slowly approached her, while at the same time trying to be as cautious as possible in case she would leash out at him.

"O, are you ok? Have we reached the village?" Octavia didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she just remained there looking blankly at the monument until Bellamy gently shook her. "O?"

Octavia took a second to come back to her sense and as soon as she snapped out of her trance, she start breathing heavily before she pointed towards a path.

"The Reapers came from there." We all look at where she pointed before Bellamy hugged his sister, who burst into tears.

"I couldn't save him, Bell. I tried to fight back, but…"

Bellamy let his sister sob into his shoulder for the lover she had just lost. Octavia just kept repeating the same words over and over as he stroked her hair, trying to soothe her. Thankfully for all of us, Octavia didn't stand there sobbing like a little girl for long, and as soon as she managed to get herself together, she wipe her tears, before she turned her head and nodded towards Anya, who led us further on the path, towards TonDC.

By chance, Clarke and I somehow ended up with the job of being the rearguard of our small party, while Anya was taking us towards the village. After the conversation we had last night, Clarke didn't speak that much the whole day, undoubtedly because she was scared of what we may find when we regroup with Finn and Murphy.

"Princess, how are you feeling? You haven't talked that much since last night."

Clarke let out a sigh before she came closer before she talked in a whispering manner as if she was scared of being heard by the rest of our friends and Anya.

"I don't… know how to feel about this. This… Finn… isn't the guy that I fell in love with and the thought of meeting him now, after he became like this scares me more than when I was being held at gunpoint by the people from Mount Weather."

"Clarke, I know what's happening to Finn, and believe me, he will only get worse if no one helps him. I or even Bellamy may be able to stop him for a while, but from experience, I can say that for him, you, and only you, are the only person alive that could bring back the spacewalker from his madness, or else he would go the same path I walked back on the Ark, a path filled with hate and sorrow where anything was an enemy to me."

After hearing my words, Clarke closed her eyes for a second before she made up her mind and for the first time since I met her, I saw her determination to save her boyfriend. Sadly she didn't get the chance to say anything to me afterward, as right after she made her min, we all heard the barely audible sound of a gun being fired in the distance. As soon as the first gunshot was heard, I run past all of my friends, passing Anya, and burst into something similar to a superhuman sprint towards the direction from where the gunshots were being heard. When the rest of them saw me rushing towards what they were sure were Finn and Murphy firing, they all burst into a sprint trying to follow my inhumane speed as we all rushed towards the unknown.

Meanwhile down the path, where Finn and Murphy had spent the entire day holding the village hostage and looking for clues regarding where their friends may be held hostages or worse, buried. In the end, after they searched every single building and asked every grounder that lived in the village, they didn't find anything that may help them find Clarke and the rest of the delinquents that were taken away, and because Finn was slowly falling being confused and angry thanks to the madness fog that was slowly taking over him.

This whole thing had become a mad search in Murphy's opinion, especially when Finn killed the first grounder that tried to escape, a man in his late thirties that run over the fence and tried to dash towards his house, only for Finn to unload half a magazine into the poor man. Maybe it was the rifle being fired or maybe it was the cries and pleas of the villagers, but not long after the man was killed, a group of twenty armed grounders appeared near one of the houses, only for Finn to pin them down behind that house, killing one of the unlucky warriors at the same time.

Even when, Murphy was shouting his name, or even when he tried to grab him, Finn didn't listen, instead, he threaten everyone if they didn't tell him what he wants to know and continue to fire at any warrior that tried to peak as if he had been taken over by someone else.

After he saw what Finn was slowly turning into and how dangerously close his people were to dying, a teenager that was hidden on top of a house, managed to grab Murphy's attention, hoping that the other skaikru would at least understand that his friend went mad. Thankfully, Murphy decided to help the boy take care of Finn before they would earn the wrath of all of the grounders.

Amid the cries and threats and sounds of bullets being fired at warriors, just before Murphy or the boy could react, a towering shadow head-butted Finn with his own rifle, sending the mad spacewalker to the ground, when he hit the ground, Finn turned his head towards the side, still gripping the gun tightly in his hand, but just before he went unconscious, he saw someone in the corner of his eye, the girl he was searching for since that night.

For a few seconds, no one dared to move mostly due to the sudden arrival of more armed people, but soon, the villagers, as well as the grounders recognized Anya and slowly walked out of the fenced area and from their hiding places.

By the time all of the grounders gathered in the middle of the village, Anya, Bellamy, Octavia, and Clarke walked right next to me. Even though I wasn't comfortable being in such close proximity to the sixteen warriors that survived Finn, I still stood next to him, just in case one of the grounders may love to get his or her revenge on the spacewalker.

From within the group of grounders, a scarred woman walked in front of me, hatefully looking at us for what had happened, but strangely enough, the moment her eyes fall on Anya, a conflicted expression appeared on her face.

"Anya…Heda thought that you perished."

"The spirits of the commanders saved me. Sadly, I was still taken away by our enemy."

As soon as the rest of the warriors heard Anya's words, all of them draw their swords and spears, ready to rush towards us, at the same time, Murphy and Bellamy aimed their rifles at the grounders, while Clarke went over to Finn and hold him in her embrace. As for me? I just simply look at this whole face off as if it didn't matter to me.

"Do you truly want to fight now, Anya?"

"Your friend killed five of mine. One of them was unarmed, I don't know what that means for your people, but for mine, this is an unforgivable crime. Blood must have blood!"

"Even though Finn was at fault here, our people at war and as such, Finn killing your warriors was justified, but you are right, he committed a crime of war when he killed an unarmed man and for that, he needs to pay. Sadly neither one of us is a law enforcer which means that he will get his punishment back at our camp or do you perhaps want to settle this here with both sides suffering even more casualties?"

Before Anya could respond, Indra, who was in front of me rushed towards me with her sword ready to cut me down. Just as everyone thought that I would be cut by that woman, the rifle that was in my hands, hit the side of the woman sending her to the ground, and before any of her warriors could react, I stepped on her chest while my rifle was pointed at her head.

"Anyone else?"

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