Harley's feet ached with every step into the woods. They were blistered and tired, as was she, but she continued on and followed Bellamy deeper for the search for Octavia. Octavia was worth the pain in her feet, so she continued on, even though she was not only in pain but frightened. Traveling in the woods during day was one thing, she'd at least see if a grounder attacked. Night was different, they'd never see the attack coming. The spear thrown at Jasper days ago was done with an amazing and skillful angle. These were warriors, wanting to kill them all for what reason Harley hadn't known.

Their leader had demanded they split up into smaller groups earlier so they would be able to cover more ground, to find wherever Octavia was. Bellamy wasn't even remotely close to giving up, and Harley was the optimism they all needed that they'd find her okay despite the circumstances they were in. Mbege had wandered off in the general direction a bit, before calling them over with a shout to see what he was seeing down a slope. Bellamy was the first to rush over, Harley following after with her fists clenched by her sides.

"Right there," Mbege pointed out, motioning towards something hanging in the bushes with his torch until the light shone on it. "You see it? Is that Octavia's?" He asked Bellamy. Harley peered forward, her eyes squinted to make it out. It looked like a piece of clothing, torn, if she had tumbled down.

"Rope," Bellamy demanded, his hand outstretched. A delinquent complied, handing it over to him.

The leader immediately tied it to a tree, securing it. "What are you doing?" Finn asked, watching him.

"We need the rope to get back up," Bellamy explained. Mbege handed him a flashlight before he was tying the rope tighter and gripping it while carefully slipping down the slope so he wouldn't fall. Harley tilted forward, watching as Bellamy came to a halt and picking the object out of the bushes after flicking his flashlight on to get a better look in the dark. "It's hers!" He finally shouted over his shoulder. He pushed the bush aside, sliding down further. "We're going all the way down."

Jasper was the first to go next, handing the torch he was holding to Harley without a word, except the glance he gave her saying it all. She stayed quiet, watching her friend follow Bellamy's step down the rope. She quickly made her decision and passed the light to Finn, who looked wearily at the small girl. "Are you sure?" He asked.

Gripping the rope, Harley nodded. "Yeah," she responded. "We have to find her." Finn nodded back, and Harley let herself slide down. She winced at the feeling of the rope digging burns into the palm of her hands, but stopped to jump off the ledge when reaching the end. She stepped forward, seeing Jasper kneeling behind Bellamy, who had drops of blood on his finger tips from swiping them against a rock. It had to be Octavia's.

Jasper held the flashlight forward, and Harley leaned forward over his figure to see what they were looking at. It was footprints, not like Octavia's, as they were much larger. "Someone else was here," Bellamy stated as Finn landed on the ground behind them.

"A grounder?" Harley guessed, fear settling in. If there was some small spots of blood, that could have been from anything from the fall to an incident, also including a grounder, it wasn't good. It isn't like anyone else could have taken her.

Their tracker, Finn, studied the prints in the mud closer. "The prints are deeper going that way," he noted. "If it was a grounder, he was carrying her."

"If they took her, she's alive," Jasper said, hopeful before growing sadder. "Like when they took me."

Harley frowned, putting a hand on his shoulder and helping him rise back to his feet. Ever since he was hit with the spear, she's felt bad for him. She's wanted to help him, and she felt like she had, and that he's made progress yet also felt like he was jumping into this mission to quickly into finding Octavia despite understanding.

The large group followed a short path from there, the night illuminated by the torches held high for light. Harley blew warm air into her cupped hands, feeling cold. She didn't know what time of night it was, or how long it'd be until the sun came up, but she hoped it would be soon. It was getting cold, and a thin jacket wasn't helping so much.

Suddenly, Harley bumped into Bellamy's large wall-like figure when he came to a sudden halt, making her less distracted. "Woah - " She hummed, startled, and peered over the side of him to see what had made him stop. Her eyes widened in shock at the sight.

Hanging from trees were skeletons, decomposed, and practically made of the ground from how long they had possibly been hanging there. "What is that?" Harley asked, looking back and forth with her voice hushed from surprise. "Are they from the grounders?" She was full of obvious questions that everyone knew, but didn't want to.

"Uh, I don't speak grounder.. But I'm pretty sure this means keep out," Finn spoke. At his statement, a few delinquents had disagreed. They announced their department before retreating, weapons grasped, back towards the camp.

"Go back if you want," Bellamy said to those remaining. "My sister, my responsibility." He bravely walked forward, deeper into the woods and pass the skeleton bones.

Harley hesitated, unsure. Octavia disappeared with a grounder, and it definitely wasn't safe. She remembered, though, that there wasn't a moment they were on the ground that they were safe. She wanted to help save Octavia, even if she wasn't as brave as the rest. 

Harley reached downwards, grabbing the handle of the weapon she had tucked in her belt and pulling it out before marching forward with the rest, unsure but feeling fearless. Even if she wasn't.

━━━━━━━━

"I got nothing. We lost the trail."

The night turned into day hours later of walking, and Harley was more exhausted than she was before. They haven't rested, not once. Even so, Octavia still hadn't been found, which meant the mission wasn't done. "Keep looking," Bellamy demanded, his gaze narrowed towards Finn, silently saying that he wasn't asking him to.

Harley felt a brush of wind as Finn talked to Bellamy, hushed, and suggesting that they backtrack to where they had gone to which Bellamy protested. Feeling the air, she slowly turned around with the handle of the weapon gripped tightly in her hand, even though she hadn't planned on using it. She looked around, confused, before realizing someone behind her had disappeared. "Hey, where's Mbege?" Harley asked, catching the attention of the others.

"I just saw him a second ago," Jasper answered after they looked back and forth for a second, but not seeing the boy anywhere.

"Spread out," Bellamy ordered, sounding irritated. "He couldn't have gone that far."

Hopeful that Mbege had just wandered a bit farther away, Harley backed up quickly as they divided. She looked around, peering through the trees, when all of a sudden there was a loud rustle before a form fell out of the trees. It was Mbege, laying on the ground, with a long bleeding cut across his neck. 

"Oh my god!" Harley gasped, stepping back and ramming into Roma who caught her before she stumbled from being so stunned at the sudden death. She knew without a doubt that it was the grounders; they killed him.

"They use the trees," Finn realized, tilting his head back to study the tall trees belonging to the woods.

"There," Jasper whispered, using his weapon to point forward. Harley's head turned and Roma's grip on her arm tightened when they saw a grounder in the distance, holding a spear and a shield in each hand, just observing them. They could see the group, they just weren't attacking, yet.

Harley looked to the other side when Roma pointed out another, seeing a similar figure in another direction. She suddenly wished that she was back at camp, not in the middle of the woods with people ready to kill them without a second thought. However, it didn't matter what she wanted. She wasn't at the dropship anymore. Harley was in the middle of them in the woods, and they could kill her at any time.

"We should run," Finn suggested, his voice quiet and scared. Harley agreed, as did the rest, as they broke out into a run.