Survivor

2364 words

My eyes shot open for the tenth time tonight at the sounds of Jasper's moans of pain. It wasn't easy getting rest with him around but I cut him some slack considering the circumstances of his situation. I couldn't say the same about the others.

"Can he just die already?" Somebody shouted.

I couldn't blame them for how they were feeling but that in no way meant that Jasper deserved to die. This wasn't his fault.

I huffed, getting up and opening my tent, peeking my head out to see that it was morning and I couldn't have gotten more than three hours of sleep. I tied my hair up, making my way to the dropship where Jasper was being treated on the third floor.

On the way, I noticed Bellamy and Murphy. The two were throwing knives into the trees- well Bellamy was. Murphy's blade continued to get deflected off the bark causing me to let out a snort.

Murphy's head turned, shooting me a glare, "It's that damn kid, alright, he's messing with my head." He defended himself, picking up his knife.

I rose my eyebrows with a smirk at his excuse, "Oh, I'm sure." 

Murphy scoffed, deciding he didn't want to waste his breath going back and forth with me. I was just about to leave until Bellamy called me back, "Why don't you show us how it's done?" He suggested with a grin.

I shrugged, walking over to the two, "If you insist." I reached for Murphy's knife, knowing this would be a piece of cake since I've done it once before but Bellamy stopped me.

"Ah, ah, ah." He shook his head, handing me the pickaxe that he held in his hands. "With this."

I accepted it, glancing down at the weapon before turning back to him uneasily.

"What?" He rose a brow, "Scared of a little challenge?" He teased and I scoffed with a squint, pushing him back lightly before I stood in his place.

"Watch and learn, boys." I mumbled before studying the tree before me, practicing how I would take my aim, extending my arm before pulling it back in and repeating the cycle.

Murphy let out a chuckle, "Looks like we finally found something you can't do-"

I stretched my arm out finally, flinging the heavy object out directly in front of me, watching the sharp end dig into the tree where it laid until somebody would pull it out. I sat up straight with a smirk, placing my hands on my hips before turning to see the surprised expression on Bellamy's face. 

"Now if you'll excuse me." I walked past the two, continuing in the direction of my original destination. 

Once I reached the dropship, I pushed the fabric that hung from above aside, making my way over to the ladder. I climbed up quickly, turning to my right and seeing Clarke. "Hey." I said, getting her attention before walking over to her, crouching down next to where Jasper lay, sweaty and out of breath with his eyes glued shut.

"What's going on?" I asked the blonde who wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with a towel. She sighed, her eyes searching his wounds as she placing her hands in her lap before turning to me.

"This is infected. He could be septic." She bit her lip, turning back to him before her eyes widened in the slightest like she got an idea but didn't know if it would fix the problem. "Hold him down."

"What? Why?" I questioned her motives, watching as she took a blade and heated it over the fire beside her and turning back to me.

"I need to cut away the infected flesh." She responded quickly, "Now hold him still."

I took a deep breath, knowing I wouldn't like any bit of this but knew it could've been a step closer to saving his life. I reached over, pinning the boy down and turning to Clarke with a hesitant nod.

Once the blade inched closer to his skin, I looked away quickly, feeling him begin to fight against my grip but I continued to hold him down. His screams grew louder, drawing in attention as Octavia ran in with her eyes wide.

"Stop it! You're killing him!"

I looked over at the dark-haired girl, defending Clarke, "She's trying to save him."

"She can't." A familiar voice called out from behind Octavia. I didn't even have to look up to know who it belonged to but nevertheless I glanced over, seeing Bellamy who was staring at down at Jasper before looking to us.

My eyes grazed over Jasper who now lay still, and quiet for the first time since his return. "Don't listen to him, Jasper. You're going to make it." I whispered with a sad smile.

I could practically hear the rolling of Bellamy's eyes once he heard the words that came from my mouth, "Kid's a goner." He said flatly, "If you can't see that, you're deluded."

"Then I guess I am crazy, aren't I?" 

Bellamy shut his mouth, not realizing his words before he spoke them and I almost thought he felt bad for what he said until he spoke again, "I guess you are." I clenched my jaw slightly, ignoring him. "Look at him, he's a lost cause."

I shook my head, looking up at Octavia to see what she had to say about the matter but she remained silent, beginning to see things from her brother's viewpoint. I sighed, looking over to Clarke who luckily hadn't lost hope.

She opened her mouth to speak, "I've spent my entire life watching my mother heal people." She glanced around at all three of us, "If I say there's hope, there's hope."

"This isn't about hope." He dismissed, without even considering what we were saying, making me angry. "It's about guts. You don't have the guts to make the hard decisions- I do. He's been like this for three days. If he's not better by tomorrow, I'll kill him myself."

I glared at him, but he only stared back for a moment before turning and leaving without another word. I scoffed with a shake of my head, "One day he's one way, the next, another."

Octavia laughed dryly, mimicking my head shake, "That's Bellamy for you." She paused for a moment, glancing over to where Clarke made her departure to get Jasper some clean water. The brown-haired girl turned to me, seeming like she were hesitant to speak making me curious until eventually she did, "So, you're like, a fighter, right?"

I cracked a sarcastic smile at the irony of how the others considered me a fighter yet I felt so helpless in this situation. I nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am."

"Look, I know the way Bellamy comes off but- he likes you, you know. You're practically the only one bold enough to stand up to him." She informed, letting a smirk slip.

I smiled to myself, not knowing how to respond, so I said nothing at all.

...

I exited from the dropship for the first time since morning, taking a deep breath. The camp looked departed since most had gone out hunting with Bellamy.

I walked over to where we kept a couple of our water pouches, using one to wash off my hands until I heard humming in the distance. My eyebrows knitted together in curiosity of who it was coming from, glancing around a tree and seeing a little girl sitting alone.

I wiped my hands off on my pants, walking over slowly, "Hey." I called out and she jumped, turning to me quickly. I rose my hands, "It's alright. It's just me." I gave her a smile of comfort and I saw her shoulders begin to fall in relief.

"Can I sit?" I asked her, pointing down to the empty space beside her. She nodded slowly and I made my way over, sitting next to her. "What are you doing here all by yourself?" I questioned the blonde.

She still wore a frown until she opened up to speak, "Well, with that guy who was dying, I just- I couldn't listen anymore." She confessed.

I sighed, nodding slowly, "I know, it's hard. I get it. But we're gonna get through this, you know why?"

Her eyes never left my face as I spoke, "Why?"

"Because we're strong- all of us. And you know, I think you just might be the strongest of us all." I nudged her shoulder, earning a beaming smile from her behalf. "What's your name?"

"Charlotte." She responded quickly with a grin. "What's yours?"

"My name's Claudia." I answered, returning her grin. My eyes wandered down to her hands where I realized, for the first time, that she was holding a knife. "Charlotte, whose is that?" I pointed at the blade.

She looked down before reassuring me, "Oh, Bellamy gave it to me!"

I raised my eyebrows, "Did he now?" She nodded rapidly and I scoffed. 

I began to hear the sounds of boots walking towards the camp and with perfect timing, it was Bellamy returning from hunting with other campers. I turned to Charlotte quickly, "Excuse me, Charlotte." I told her before standing and walking over to Bellamy angrily.

Once I reached his smiling expression I hit him in his shoulder, which only caused him to stagger backwards in the slightest. The boys behind him exited, not wanting to be caught up in what was about to go down. "The hell was that for?" He asked, just as angry.

I crossed my arms, "You gave Charlotte a knife?" I questioned the male in disbelief.

He shrugged, continuing to walk with a bag slung over his shoulder, "Yeah, so what?"

I followed in his footsteps quickly, "She's a little girl!" I exclaimed.

"We can't keep treating her like a little girl if she wants to stand a chance out here." 

He sounded just like him. Shumway. And maybe that's why I was so angry. I was afraid of Bellamy doing to Charlotte what Shumway had done to me. I wanted to think better of Bellamy but at this point, I didn't know what to expect.

He said nothing to my lack of response, not even paying me attention which only made me more upset. "Would you at least look at me?" I grabbed his arm, spinning him around, making him drop his bag.

"What do you want me to say, Claudia?" He rose his voice, staring me down with angry eyes, intimidating me in the slightest. He towered over me and I, for once, stood speechless, "I am looking out for these people- my people. What the hell is your problem?"

I shut my mouth, looking away, fighting with myself if I wanted to tell Bellamy Blake of all people what I'd gone through. I turned back to him, "The only reason I'm telling you this is so you'll stay away from Charlotte, got it?"

He contained a poker face of stone until he nodded.

...

Bellamy and I sat in his tent in silence for the past twenty minutes since I've told him about my past. Every detail. I couldn't tell if the silence was out of pity for the tragedy that was my childhood, or the silence of disapproval. The suspense was getting to me every minute that passed by. But whether he hated me for what I've done or pitied it, I couldn't stand another moment sitting in silence.

I unzipped the opening to his tent, leaving after what I informed him of. He didn't try to stop me- so I assumed I knew where we stood. I just hoped he understood why I was so defensive of Charlotte and that he'd take it into consideration.

Once I stepped outside, I realized that the sun had gone down, and Clarke was returning with Finn and Wells on a journey I had no clue they went on in the first place. Luckily Monty and Octavia were looking after Jasper in the dropship.

I walked over to Clarke, asking for an update to which she responded, "I have the medicine for Jasper. I'll need boiled water."

I nodded, about to respond when Bellamy appeared beside me, ordering the people around him, "Get Clarke whatever she needs." Leading our peers scrambling to help in whatever ways they could.

Murphy walked over with his hands in his pockets, ignoring my existence and turning to Bellamy, "Jasper's still breathing. Barely. I tried to take him out but thanks to Octavia and crazy Claudia over here-"

I was about to retort until Bellamy grabbed him by the collar aggressively, pulling him in with gritted teeth, "What did you just call her?"

Murphy swallowed, scared, but confused. And honestly so was I. I watched in shock at Bellamy's sudden defense in my name. "Claudia." He corrected himself.

Bellamy nodded, pushing him away roughly to the point where Murphy was stumbling. "If I ever hear you call her that again, I'll cut out your tongue."

My mouth fell open as I examined Murphy's expression of disbelief that anyone dare defend me. He straightened out his jacket before turning to leave but not without getting in one last glare at me.

Bellamy watched him walk away before turning to me, "You're not crazy, Claudia."

"Jasper's up!" Clarke ran over, interrupting- whatever it was that just happened- tugging on my arm and leading me back to the dropship before I could say anything to Bellamy.

I climbed up the ladder anxiously, glancing over and seeing that Finn, Octavia, and Monty were having a conversation with him. I smiled, practically running over. "Jasper! You're okay." I let out a sigh of relief.

He moved his messy black hair out of his face, glancing around, "Was that a dream or did I get speared?"

I let out a soft chuckle, along with the others, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You'll have a very impressive scar to prove it." I rubbed his shoulder with a half-smile, "Thank you, for not dying."

"Yeah, well, I'll try not dying tomorrow too, if that's cool."