Sweat drenched my entire aching body as I spotted the gates of our camp in the distance. Octavia leaned against me, limping along with me and Jasper for support while Bellamy carried Finn. I glanced back at them, worrying lacing my thoughts. The knife was still in Finn's side, but he was hanging on. I hoped Clarke would be able to save him. Sure, Finn wasn't my favorite person recently, but he was still one of my friends, and I didn't want to have to bury another body. 

Thunder rumbled around us as a cold drop of rain hit my arm. The sky was a giant expanse of grey with ominous clouds rolling in with the gusty wind. The air felt moist as more rain droplets collided with my skin. I let out an exhausted breath as Jasper pulled back the gate. He let go of Octavia, most of her weight falling onto me. I stayed strong, supporting her as Jasper frantically looked around for Clarke.

"Clarke!" He yelled. "Where's Clarke?" He glanced over to a group of people who were all trying to see what was happening. "Get Clarke now," he said to them.

I spotted Clarke jogging up to us, "Hey, I'm here. What's up?" 

Then, her eyes widened when Bellamy walked through the gate. Everyone gasped when they saw Finn. He was out cold with the knife protruding from his side. 

Clarke shoved passed us.

"Finn. Finn?" She ran up to Bellamy as Miller and  Archie came up next to me and helped Octavia sit down. "Oh my God. Oh my God," I stood behind Clarke. Her hand shook as she felt for a pulse on Finn's neck. Raven was watching with fear on her face as she slowly backed away.

"Oh my God."

"He's alive," Clarke said with relief.

Jasper looked over Bellamy's shoulder, "Bellamy wouldn't let me take the knife out."

"No, that was a good call. Get him in the dropship. Now. Go!"

Miller and a few others helped Bellamy carry Finn towards the dropship as Archie came up to me with confusion on his face, "Harley, what the hell happened?"

"It was a grounder. He stabbed Finn," I shook my head. "I don't know what to think, Arch. The grounder saved Octavia, and he used his foghorn to save us."

Archie raised his eyebrows, "That doesn't make any sense."

"I know," I glanced at the dropship with uncertainty. "I don't think things are just black and white with the grounders."

"Nothing is ever black and white," Archie replied as he looked at me. "There's always good and bad on every side."

Archie was right, and deep down I knew that war with the grounders was stupid. We had to live with them, and they knew how to survive on Earth better than us. The fact was that we were in their territory, and we needed to find a way to avoid war. If all of them were huge warriors like the one that stabbed Finn, we were screwed. A war with the grounder would mean certain death for all of us. 

The wind started to pick up even more as the light sprinkle of rain turned into a heavy downpour. Archie and I rain into the dropship with everyone else to find that Monty and Raven had successfully built a radio. They were constantly trying to reach the Ark. Clarke needed her mother to help her save Finn. The knife was in an extremely delicate position. 

A loud boom of thunder shook the ground, causing some people to let out startled yelps. My eyes shifted to the metal table on the other side of the room that Finn was lying on. Clarke paced around as Raven continued to try to talk to the Ark amongst the roaring of the wind and rain.

Hours had passed, and the storm was worse. The dropship felt hot and musty from all the people inside at once. Bellamy and Miller were nowhere to be found. They had gone out before the storm got bad, and still weren't back. They didn't tell anyone where they were going.

"This is Raven Reyes calling Ark Station," I walked to stand around the radio beside Clarke. "Come in, Ark Station. This is Raven Reyes calling Ark Station. Please come in. Can anyone hear me?"

"You sure you have the right frequency?" Monroe asked as she leaned against the wall.

Raven turned to her with annoyance, "Yeah. I'm sure."

Clarke leaned down closer to her, "Raven. You can do this okay?"

I nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder, "They'll hear you. Just keep trying."

Clarke moved away from the radio to check on Finn. Raven's eyes followed her as she spoke into the radio again, "Calling Ark Station. Ark Station please come in. I'm on the ground with the hundred," her eyes were filled with desperation. "We need you."

――――

Another hour had passed with no response from the Ark. Finn was getting weaker, and I knew that if we didn't reach Abby Griffin soon, he would die. 

And to make matters worse, Bellamy and the others weren't back yet, and the storm was so bad that we were about to close the dropship door. I nervously glanced from Finn to the door with Raven's voice in the background as she repeated the same words into the radio for the millionth time. I let out a sigh of frustration as I looked around the bottom floor for Octavia. I saw her sitting near the ladder.

"Your brother is such an idiot," I said as I stood in front of her. "I can't believe he went out in this storm."

Octavia shrugged, "I can. He never listens to anyone."

I turned my head when the static voice of someone on the other end of the radio blurred through the sound of the storm. My heart lurched with expectation. The Ark had finally heard Raven. 

"This is a restricted channel. Who is this? Please identify yourself."

"Holy shit," I ran over beside Raven as everyone stopped talking. 

"This is Raven Reyes. I'm from Mecha Station. I'm transmitting from the ground," Raven said quickly as Clarke joined us by the radio. "The hundred are alive. Please, you need to get Dr. Abby Griffin. Dr. Abby Griffin. Now!"

"Hang on Raven. We're trying to boost your signal."

I backed away from the radio, running my hands through my hair as everyone around us burst into a loud chatter to one another. I looked around with narrowed eyes.

"Hey, shut up! It's hard enough to hear with this damn storm!" I called out, causing everyone to hush immediately.

"Raven, are you there?" A feminine voice came from the radio: Abby Griffin.

Raven looked to Clarke motioning for her to talk. Clarke stepped up, "Mom? Mom, it's me." 

A few seconds of silence passed before Abby's voice rose again from the radio with disbelief, "Clarke?"

Clarke didn't waste any time. She got straight to the point as usual, "Mom, I need your help. One of our people was stabbed by a grounder."

"Clarke, this is the Chancellor," My body tensed when I heard Jaha's voice, the anger I had pushed away the past few weeks boiling back to me all at once. I clenched my fists as I turned away from the radio to keep myself under control. "Are you saying there are survivors on the ground?"

"Yes," Clarke answered. "The earth is survivable. We're not alone."

I remembered the three hundred people they killed two days ago; all for nothing. Jaha must have felt like shit in that moment. I hoped he did.

"Mom, he's dying," Clarke said as she brought the conversation back to Finn. "The knife's still in his chest."

"Okay, can you patch me through to medical?" I heard Abby ask.

Then, Jaha spoke up again, his words hitting me right in the heart, "Clarke, is my son with you?" 

A huge weight of the grief I had been trying to work through dropped on my chest as Clarke's sad gaze met mine. I gave her a small nod. Jaha needed to know the truth. I pushed down the tears that tried to pool in my eyes as I remembered how much I missed Wells every minute of every day.

I slowly walked to the radio, speaking for the first time, "Jaha, this is Harley. I'm so sorry, but Wells..." My voice almost faltered, but I took a deep breath, "Wells is dead."

I waited for his response, but it never came. Moments later, I felt someone lightly touch my shoulder. I turned my head to see Archie's reassuring stare. I gave him a grateful look before snapping myself away from the sadness.

The room was packed as Abby was patched through to medical. Clarke was ready to follow her mother's instructions as everyone listened in to the conversation. 

"I'm going to talk you through it step by step," 

Clarke had never done anything like this before. I could tell she was nervous. One wrong move and Finn was dead.

A loud rattling sound came from outside. A few people stumbled back with startled yells. This was not a good environment for trying to get the knife out of Finn without killing him.

"Clarke, give five... to... medical," Abby's voice was broken up and shaky amongst the static.

Clarke shook her head, "What? Raven, what's wrong?"

"It's not the radio. It's the storm."

I sighed, "We can't ever catch a break, can we?"

Abby's voice came from the radio again, "Clarke, we need to hurry."

My head turned when Octavia came into the dropship carrying two long metal cups. Her entire body was completely soaked. She walked up to Clarke slowly, careful not to spill the liquid that filled each cup to the very top.

Clarke grabbed one of the cups, and brought it up to her nose, her face quickly scrunching in disgust at the pungent smell. 

Clarke glanced at Octavia, "Monty's moonshine?"

Octavia nodded, "I'm pretty sure no germ can survive it."

I scoffed, "You're right about that. I can barely survive drinking it."

The noises from the storm were only getting worse as the dropship continued to rattle in an unpleasant way. Clarke looked up as she poured the moonshine into a small bowl on a table beside Finn where she had everything she would need to save him. 

I stood beside Clarke and Octavia as I helped them sterilize everything. 

"The storm's getting worse," Clarke glanced to the side. "Monroe close the doors."

Monroe quickly protested, "We still have people out there."

"Monty and Jasper still aren't back yet, and neither is Bellamy," Octavia said.

"That's alright. They'll find somewhere safe to ride it out," Clarke replied, still busy getting everything ready as Raven came up to us, holding out a small needle. 

"One suture needle," she handed it to Clarke.

"Right. I still need something to close the wound."

"There's some wire on the second level. We use it for the tents," I suggested. 

Octavia nodded as she moved away from the table, "I can get it."

"There's some blue wires that run through the ceiling. I rigged it to the solar cells on the roof," Raven called out to Octavia as she walked to the ladder. "That means they're hot, you got that?"

"Yeah, I got that."

I suddenly felt a faint pain in the back of my head. I put my hand against my skull with furrowed eyebrows as the pain slowly intensified. I let out a quiet wince as I slightly stumbled away from the table.

"You good, Harley?" I looked up to see Archie glancing over me with concern.

I nodded, "Yeah, I think I just need to sit down."

"Hey, they're back!" 

I looked to the other end of the dropship, watching as Bellamy walked in, fully drenched. Water droplets clung to his face as he glanced over his shoulder where Miller and another guy were draggling along an unconscious grounder; the same grounder that stabbed Finn.

"Bellamy?" I heard Octavia call out from the ladder as the grounder was thrown against the floor. Octavia motioned to him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's time to get some answers." 

His eyes fell on me as I walked over to stand beside his sister with my arms crossed over my chest. I did my best to not focus on the pounding in my skull.

Octavia raised her eyebrows, "Oh, you mean revenge?"

His dark eyes locked with hers, "I mean intel." He looked over to Miller. "Get him upstairs."

Was Bellamy going to torture him for information?

I took a careful step closer to him. I saw his hard gaze soften slightly when his eyes landed on me, "Bellamy, this isn't right."

"Clarke, honey, we're ready. Can you hear me?" 

His gaze hardened again at the sound of the radio as Clarke walked up to us. She caught his eyes as she tried to get him on our side.

"Look, this is not who we are."

Bellamy's eyes went from Clarke and Octavia to the radio, and then to me.

"It is now."

Before Bellamy could walk to the ladder, a sudden intense pain shot through my entire skull. I let out a hiss of pain, "Shit," I cursed as my hands went to my head.

Bellamy turned back to me, "Harley, what's wrong?"

I tried to brush him off, "I'm fine."

He looked over me, "No, you're not. Come upstairs and take a break for a bit."

I tried to protest, but Archie stepped in, "Harley, listen to him. You need to rest."

"Archie's right. Now come on before I throw your ass over my shoulder and carry you up there."

I rolled my eyes as I gave in and followed Bellamy up the ladder, "You're such an ass."

Bellamy ignored my comment as we got to the third level where Miller and a few others were starting to chain the grounder up.

"You need to talk to Dr. Griffin," Bellamy said as he turned to me. "Your brain may not have healed as great as they thought."

I shook my head, "No. My brain is fine," Well, except for the missing memories. "I had plenty of checkups with Dr. Griffin on the Ark."

"Yeah, but Murphy rammed your head into the ladder a few days ago, remember?"

I let out a sarcastic laugh, "Trust me, I remember." 

I still had the bump to remind me.

He took a step closer to me, "All I'm saying is that you need to make sure you really are okay. You've taken a lot of hits, Harley."

I threw my hands up in surrender with a sigh, "Fine, I'll talk to Dr. Griffin after she helps Clarke with Finn."

"Good," Bellamy gave me a small smile, "Now, go down to the second level and get some rest." And before I could even open my mouth to reply, he continued, "And don't even try to argue with me, Princess. You always make sure I get some sleep, so this me returning the favor."

With one last smirk, he stepped away, and I gave him a steady glare before turning around and heading towards the ladder wondering how Bellamy could piss me off and make my heart rush with excitement at the same time.

――――
okay it's been forever
and i'm sorry.
my summer job is
kicking my ass.
i hate working but
i need money for college
anyway, remember to vote
and leave your thoughts
in the comments
<3