T E N

"For Octavia."

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HARLAI HAD BEEN SITTING on a log near the fire as she made a bag to put her arrows in. She borrowed Clarke's sewing kit which was mostly used for stitching wounds, but she let Harlai use a little bit of it. The young woman was busy sewing the strap onto some fabric that she simply put around her arrows and tied rope around it to keep it together when she heard Bellamy calling out for Octavia.

She glanced over her shoulder to see him searching through tents and she stood up from her place on the log, placing the strap over her body so the bag of arrows rested on her back against her makeshift bow. "Bellamy, what's wrong?"

"I can't find O." He frantically said as he walked to Clarke's tent. "You're up?"

"Yeah." Clarke replied as she crawled out of the tent and stood in front of the two. "Knowing that hundreds of people might be dying on The Ark makes it pretty hard to sleep."

"Raven's flares will work." He replied with a reassuring tone and Harlai nodded.

"Her radio would've worked better." Clarke said, making Harlai glance down at the ground.

"That's true, but it's over with. We can't help it." Harlai told Clarke. Bellamy looked down at Harlai, hiding his look of appreciation in the darkness.

"Have you seen Octavia?" Bellamy asked as he looked to Clarke again.

"No, it's Octavia. She's probably chasing butterflies."

"Clarke, I've checked the camp. She's not here."

"Okay, I'll help you find her."

"Me too." One of Harlai's hands placed itself on the strap of her arrow bag as she looked up at Bellamy, her lips curling into a half-smile. Time to test this baby out.

"Let's check again." Clarke turned and began to walk into the heart of the camp, Bellamy and Harlai following beside her. "You go to the dropship. Harlai and I can check the rest of the tents."

"Thank you." Bellamy replied, glancing from Harlai to Clarke.

"Don't thank me." Clarke said. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Octavia." And with that, the trio split up so they could cover more ground.

Harlai ducked her head into tents, mostly finding sleeping campers or startling others, but no Octavia. She could imagine the girl just talking to someone or sleeping in the dropship where they would eventually find her. She had a feeling that this wasn't true.

After a half hour of searching with no luck, Bellamy gathered the campers for a search party. Harlai stood beside him, her bow in one hand and an arrow ready in another. Whatever they faced tonight, she would be ready.

"Gather around and grab a weapon." Bellamy placed the weapons on the ground so they could do so. "My sister's been out there alone for twelve hours. Arm up. We're not coming back without her."

He glanced over at Harlai when he realized she hadn't grabbed a weapon and he opened his mouth to say something, but he paused when he saw her bow and arrow. With a quirk of his brow, a small smirk coiled his lips. "Nice bow and arrow you got there. Is that what you were busy with earlier?"

"While you guys were busy fighting about the radio, yes." Harlai brought one of her arrows over to poke the tip lightly against his chest making him raise both of his bushy brows and she left him as a smirk of her own appeared on her lips.

"Harlai, you don't have to do this." Clarke stopped the young woman by placing a hand on her arm. "We might come into contact with Grounders."

"I have to do this, Clarke. Octavia's my friend. Plus, I might as well face the Grounders now more than later if it comes to that." She sent the blonde a small smile just as Bellamy walked up behind Clarke.

"We need all the people we can get." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest, Clarke glancing over her shoulder at him. Then Bellamy turned to Clarke, dragging his eyes from Harlai. "We need a tracker. Finn, get out here."

Once people began walking out of the camp to search for Octavia, Harlai followed suit. The last time she had been alone in the dark forest was the night Charlotte jumped off of the cliff and that wasn't a great memory. Sometimes Harlai blamed herself for it. If only she reached out quicker she would have caught Charlotte and Murphy would still be in the camp.

Harlai accidentally bumped into the back of someone and she realized it was Bellamy who had been stopped, looking up at the sky. She glanced around to see that everyone was looking, so she tilted her chin up, her eyes catching what looked to be a meteor shower. That wasn't the case.

The young woman gasped softly and she bit onto her bottom lip to keep from letting out a sob. It was a funeral for the three hundred that had been sacrificed, just like Raven said.

"They didn't work." Raven said as she walked up behind Clarke and Finn. "They didn't see the flares."

"A meteor shower tells you that?" Bellamy asked from beside Harlai.

"It's not a meteor shower." Harlai's shaky voice replied as her eyes stayed on the flickering lights. "It's a funeral."

"Hundreds of bodies being returned to the earth from The Ark. This is what it looks like from the other side." Clarke informed the crowd with a shake of her head. "They didn't get our message."

Raven pushed her way towards Bellamy as she shouted, "This is all because of you!" Finn and Clarke held her back.

"I helped you find the radio." Bellamy said as he pointed a finger at her.

"Yeah, after you jacked it from my pod and trashed it!"

"Yeah, he knows." Clarke placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now he has to live with it."

"All I know is that my sister is out there." Bellamy said as he looked from the sky to the people in front of him. "And I'm gonna find her. You coming or what?"

"Yeah." Finn replied.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

With that, Bellamy turned around and began to walk out, Harlai following behind him. As her hands clutched her bow, she couldn't help but have a bad feeling. What if her mother was one of those who died?

•••

"LOOK, OVER HERE!" A kid named John called out, making the others bound over to where he was at the edge of a clearing and a steep slope.

"What is it?" Bellamy asked.

"Right there." The kid pointed to a bush limb with the hand his lantern was in. Octavia's belt. "You see it? Is that Octavia's?"
"Rope." Bellamy ordered to which a guy beside him gave up. He bent over and began tying it so he could go down the steep slope.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked as he brushed past Harlai and looked at Bellamy.

"We need the rope to get back up." He replied before tossing the rest outward. "Flashlight." He grabbed the flashlight from the kid who had seen Octavia's belt and turned it off, shoving it into the pocket of his jacket.

After that, Bellamy grabbed the rope and began to haul himself gently yet quickly down the slope and to the limb. He stopped and snatched the piece out. "It's hers. I'm going all the way down." With that, he did as he said, lowering himself down more.

Jasper walked in front to the group where Bellamy had just been and with a shaky breath, he handed a wary-looking Finn his torch. After he went down, Harlai draped her bow back over her body. She walked up and glanced to the guy who had spotted the belt and she patted his shoulder with a smile. "Good job."

Leaving him grinning like an idiot, Harlai grabbed the rope and began to go down the slope as well. "Be careful!" Finn called after her.

Harlai jumped to the ground, making a perfect landing on her feet, or so she thought she would. She stumbled against Jasper who whirled around quickly, only letting out a sigh of relief when he realized it was her.

"Heh, sorry, Jasper. I should have waited a second before coming down." She sent him an apologetic smile and she patted his back before walking over to Bellamy who was crouched down.

"It's okay-"

They both paused as they walked up to Bellamy, any look of humor escaping their faces. Harlai frowned once she saw the blood on Bellamy's fingers, exchanging a worried glance with him and Jasper. Not a second later, Finn dropped down to the ground behind them with a torch in hand.

"It's fresh, so if that's hers we still have time." She mumbled to reassure everyone even herself.

When Finn's torchlight casted over the soil, that's when they caught sight of the footprints everywhere. The prints were deeper than some, meaning that the other person was more heavyset than Octavia. This chilled Harlai to the bone.

"The prints are deeper going that way." Finn pointed towards the direction ahead of them and then glanced over at Bellamy. "He was carrying her."

"Shit." Harlai mumbled as she straightened back up so she was standing, just as someone dropped behind them.

"If they took her, she's alive." Jasper said as he glanced up at Harlai with a smile. "Like when they took you." His smile vanished and this brought a nervous look to Harlai's face.

"Luckily, there isn't as much blood, so that means she wasn't impaled." Harlai glanced at the blood that was spattered on the rock and Bellamy stood.

He turned and began walking the path that the footprints led, his people following behind him including Finn, Jasper, and Harlai. After a while of walking, Finn at the front with Harlai behind him, Bellamy behind her, Finn halted to a stop at the sight before them. Perched up by long wooden staffs were many skeletons, making Harlai grimace but she didn't look away.

"I don't speak Grounder, but I'm pretty sure this means keep out." Harlai looked up at Finn as he spoke and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Ya think?" She asked.

A few people began to say that they were leaving because of how crazy it was, but they were just scared. Harlai stood her ground, pulling her bow off of her body. She brought a hand back over her shoulder so she could pull an arrow out of its bag, notching it on the string of her bow and making it ready to shoot.

"Go back if you want. My sister, my responsibility." Bellamy said this before beginning to walk forward and past the skeletons.

"I'd walk into hell to find her." Jasper said as he glanced at Finn and then at Harlai before following behind Bellamy.

Harlai's lips pressed together, forming into a line and she grasped her bow and arrow tightly. This was going to be one hell of a night.

"Octavia's worth it." She mumbled only loud enough for Finn to hear it. With Finn, she began to walk after them.

"I think we did." Finn replied to Jasper as Harlai fell into step behind them, Monroe close behind her.

After not even a second, the girl slowed down so she was beside Monroe. For some reason, she made her feel more safe. Mostly because having anyone by her side her made her feel that way.

•••

AS THE GROUP WALKED, the sun began to rise for another day. Harlai realized that she hadn't really had a full night sleep in a few days, maybe a couple hours when she reached the creek the day before. She could feel her eyes drooping from how tired she was, her limbs weak, but she pushed through it. They had to find Octavia and she couldn't turn around now.

Finn slowed to a stop as he sighed and he looked around. "I got nothing. We lost the trail."

"Keep looking." Bellamy insisted as he began to grow worried, well, more worried.

They just kept walking as Finn tried to pick up any kind of trail. Harlai glanced over her shoulder as she heard something, but she just shook it off once she didn't see anything.

"Wandering around aimlessly isn't the way to find your sister." Finn replied. "We should backtrack."

Bellamy only shook his head. "I'm not going back."

"Hey, where's John?" Roman asked as she looked around. Harlai glanced back again to realize that the kid who had put them on a track earlier was gone.

"I just saw him a second ago." Jasper breathed out as Harlai brought her bow and arrow up. If someone was going to attack them she would be ready.

"Spread out. He couldn't have gotten far." Bellamy said.

Right when everyone began to walk around, a 'thud' was heard and Harlai glanced down at her feet to see John's body. His eyes were wide and his neck had been cut, showing where someone had dragged their knife right across it.

"What the fuck?" Harlai stepped away and she looked around. "He wasn't there a second ago.." They must be in the trees.

"They use the trees." Finn whispered as he ran up, not even a second after the thought had crossed her mind. She looked up, pointing her arrow upwards as well.

"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary."

"Now can we go back?" Roma asked, earning a look from Harlai. Did people not understand that Octavia's life was on the line?

"There." Jasper's eyes were wide as he pointed to a man about a couple of yards away.

"Another one."

Harlai whirled around, spotting yet another Grounder. "They're everywhere."

"We should run." Finn said and not even a second later, the whole group took off running.

Harlai clutched tightly onto her bow, keeping the arrow notched still. Her hair flew behind her as she ran, her eyes flickering around. She spotted a Grounder not too far away from her. They were closing in on them, surrounding them and stalking them like prey.

"What are we gonna do? They keep cutting us off!"

"Just keep running!" Harlai yelled as she picked up her speed. This had been the fastest she ever ran.

"I can't run much longer!" Jasper yelled, more like rasped, out as he grabbed a vine.

Harlai glanced back at him and she slowed down, grabbing his hand to tug him. "Come on, Jas. You got this!" He barely budged.

"I'm not stopping for him!"

"I'm sick of running anyway." Bellamy said as he stopped and he turned around.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Finn asked as he nudged Bellamy.

"They know where she is."

"Diggs, where are you?" Roma yelled as she saw that he was nowhere to be seen. She then began to run back to where they came from.

"Roma, stop!" Harlai yelled as she ran after her, the guys following suit as well as Monroe.

Hearing a scream, Harlai and the others ran faster. "Wait, Roma!" She hollered as Roma took off again, her eyes widening once she saw Diggs.

The Grounders had rigged up some kind of trap that impaled Diggs, killing him instantly. She could feel the bile rising in her throat, but she forced it down. There wasn't any time.

"There could be more! Stop!" Finn yelled as they came to a halt behind Harlai.

"They were leading us here. It's the only direction we could run in." Jasper pointed out as Harlai clutched her hair, her bow pressing to her temple.

"Hey. Where'd they go?" Finn asked, making the others look around to realize they were alone again.

"After Roma." Bellamy stated before taking off after her.

Harlai began to feel breathless and weak as she stared at the corpse in front of her. Most of it was because of how tired she grew, mainly having her energy drained. As she heard Roma scream, she turned and began to run after her as well.

After a few minutes of searching, the group stopped. "There she is. Roma!" Monroe whisper yelled as Bellamy bounded over. They could only see her shoulder, making it look as if she was hiding from The Grounders. The others followed Bellamy and Harlai stopped once she saw it.

Roma had been impaled with a long spear, just like Harlai had been a month ago. This time the young woman couldn't help it as the bile forced its way up and she turned around, letting what little was in her stomach fall to the ground from her mouth.

"They're playing with us." Finn said as he looked around.

Harlai straightened, feeling Jasper place a comforting hand on her shoulder. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and let out a shaky breath.

"I'm gonna find one of them and impale them, just like they did us. See how they like it." Harlai grumbled but Finn just shook his head.

"We need to stay calm."

Harlai nodded slowly as she began to slow her breathing and she glanced over at Bellamy. He brought a hand up so he could close Roma's eyes, a guilty expression taking over his face.

"She only came because of me." He muttered.

"They can kill us whenever they want." Finn expressed as they all looked around with bewildered expressions.

"Then they should get it over with!" Jasper began to yell as he looked around. "Come on!"

Finn ran up to him and he tried to stop him. Harlai ran her hands through her hair as she looked around, tears beginning to blur her vision. "T-They're trying to make us go insane! Pick us off one by one."

"Harlai-" Bellamy began as he grabbed her arm, but her and Jasper continued to shake, tremble, and yell.

"Bellamy! They're coming!" Monroe yelled and she was right. Grounders began to run forward, advancing on the small group.

Just when they were hundreds of feet away, a horn blew and they began to run the opposite direction. "W-What is that?" Harlai asked.

"They're leaving." Bellamy pointed out as they all looked around.

"That horn. What does it mean?" Jasper asked.

"Acid fog." Finn said as he immediately pulled out a tent.

"We have to run." Monroe said.

"There's no time." Finn replied with a shake of his head.

With that, he spread out the tent and they all began to get under it. Harlai didn't know what the acid fog was, but it definitely didn't sound pleasant.

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WORD COUNT: 3120

CHARACTER COUNT: 16806

PAGE COUNT: 9

Wowza this is a LONG chapter. I kinda started typing and kept going. The first part could have been connected to the last chapter but oH wELL.

I hope it wasn't boring!!

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