Chapter 12
Just after wishing Lexa luck as she ventured back into the forest, Clarke took to tending to the injured. “Oh,” Clarke hissed as she lifted the makeshift bandage from the woman’s side. This was the woman that had escaped the drone with Lexa the previous day, and Clarke desperately wanted her to survive, for Lexa’s sake.
“What-“ The woman gasped. “What’s wrong?”
Clarke lifted her eyes to the woman’s pale and sweaty face guiltily. “It looks like it could be infected. Mom!” Clarke called to the surgeon. Abby had been helping Harper with her hips, she would probably be able to walk with a crutch within the next few days. The doctor snapped up when she heard her daughter and immediately rushed towards her.
“Oh,” Abby hissed, bending down to better inspect the cut. “That’s blood poisoning.”
Clarke pulled her mother away from the woman and out of earshot. “What do we do? We don’t have any antibiotics.” Clarke whispered. “She’s going to die.”
“We can’t amputate, it’s on her side.”
“Only a matter of time before it reaches her heart.” Clarke sighed.
“There’s nothing we can do, Clarke.” Abby gripped her daughter’s shoulder tightly. “She’s going to die.”
Clarke ran a hand through her filthy hair. “There has to be something.”
Abby grabbed Clarke’s wrist as she lowered it from her head. “We’re not exactly in a sterile environment Clarke.” She said giving Clarke a stern look. “Infections happen when we’re all filthy.”
Clarke pulled her hand away guiltily. “Mom, I really did try.”
Abby shook her head. “You couldn’t help it. We can’t always save everyone.”
Clarke withdrew further and stepped away, walking up to the woman to explain the situation. The way the woman begged, begged for Clarke to help her. But there was nothing to do. The woman’s face crumpled, tears welling and streaming down her face.
“Please, please you can’t just leave me to die!”
“No, you won’t be alone. I’m right here, but-“ Clarke’s voice cracked. “The infection is going to kill you unless we get you to a hospital immediately. We don’t have any antibiotics.”
The woman sobbed. Her body had already been wrecked by the shivering and fever and sweating, but now she had added emotional turmoil to the list of things going wrong. Clarke watched the woman break in front of her. “I have a niece.” She whispered as she finally settled. “She’s five. I was going to take her to Disney.” She stared longingly at the sky. But instead my own body is going to kill me.”
Clarke looked away from the woman. “I have to- uh. I have to see to Anya’s wound. Hopefully we can prevent anymore infection.”
The woman began sobbing anew as Clarke scrambled away, admonishing herself for her own cowardice along the way.
Lexa and Tris returned with enough small animals to feed camp breakfast for the day, but there were no leftovers. Lexa allowed Clarke to watch her clean and stretch the hides of the carcasses, instead of tend to the injured. There were only six injured survivors. One of them doomed to die. Monroe and Harper sat with her, chatting, crying, comforting her. Raven was hobbling along just fine, though she and Monty sat in the shade taking apart and putting together laptops and cellphones and the drone that Lexa had taken down. Indra sat with Octavia, scowling at her lack of assignment, but helping the girl whenever she needed it. Abby spent most of her time taking care of them, while Anya meandered about camp griping and generally being a pain, but her wound was healing fast and well.
Clarke found that she had little to do, so she watched Lexa closely, anything to distract herself from the dying woman under her watch.
“And you’re sure there’s nothing you can do?” Lexa murmured after Clarke explained her dilemma quietly.
“No,”
“There was a natural remedy our tribe taught us using a poultice, but we don’t have the same plants and such here.” Lexa shrugged a shoulder. “A lot of the natural things my cousins and I know won’t help in a tropical region.”
Clarke nodded quietly, slumping her shoulders. “I’m not used to forcing myself to give up.”
“Clarke,” Lexa clicked the K in her name. “You’re not giving up. If there’s nothing you can do, then there’s nothing to try. You have to remember that this wasn’t your fault. You did what you could with what you had available to you. It just wasn’t enough this time.” Lexa offered a half smile. “But you know who you did save? Anya, Octavia, Indra, you healed Harper, helped Aden. You’ve done incredible things with so little. You performed a miracle in saving Anya. That was you. We’ve lost a lot of people in the last week. But none of that was because of you. In fact, we have so many survivors because of you.”
Clarke nodded. “Did you know her?”
Lexa shook her head. “She wasn’t on my team, and I didn’t really ask when we were running through the forest.”
Clarke sighed. “I’m afraid to ask. Would it be cowardly not to?”
Lexa furrowed her brow and looked away. “I don’t know.”
Clarke shifted uncomfortably. “Sometimes, in the ambulance, I don’t ever find out their names. I haven’t decided if it makes things worse or better.”
“Maybe there is no way to avoid it.” Lexa sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Clarke shook her head and stepped forward, wrapping Lexa into a hug that caught the brunette entirely off guard. After a second or two, Clarke felt Lexa relax and hug her back gently. Eventually, Clarke stepped back and ran a hand through her hair to hide her awkwardness. She cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak but Lexa beat her to it.
“I should get going. Tris and I are going to try and hunt again today. With fewer people it’ll be easier, but we’re going to stay out of the drone range as much as possible. I’m sure there are drones patrolling the forest perimeter now.” Lexa smiled nervously. “Either way, we need the food, and until we can find out if fishing is a feasible solution, it’s into the forest we go.”
Clarke’s face fell. “Be careful, Lexa. We need you, remember?”
Lexa sent her a lopsided smile and walked by her towards Tris. “Hey Clarke, since your mother and Monroe have nursing down, you mind going with Bellamy fishing? I don’t want him drowning Murphy.”
Clarke smiled. “Yeah, I’ll go with them.”
As it turned out, Murphy was a natural fisherman. He was responsible for most of the pile of fish in the center of the raft. Bellamy spent most of his time grumbling and struggling to recast his line over and over. Clarke sat between Bellamy and a shirtless Murphy and struggled not to betray her discomfort. Rashid and Pike sat on the other side of the raft with Emori to keep the balance, whispering and muttering to each other while they tugged their makeshift fishing poles.
Bellamy grunted as he reeled in nothing once more. “So, Murphy.”
Murphy glared over at Bellamy. “What d’you want Fed?”
“I was wondering just when you and Jasper became such good pals.” Bellamy glanced over at Clarke. “You heard him didn’t you? Said you were allies.”
Murphy scoffed. “Bullshit. I haven’t talked to that jackass since he punched me in the face the first morning.”
Bellamy laughed sardonically. “Listen to me, Murphy, and listen to me carefully. I don’t care what shit-for-brains told you he would do, but you’re going to tell me where my bag is.”
“Probably strewn about the debris like the rest of our shit.” Murphy snarled.
“No, not my luggage. The bag that Jasper took out of my luggage. Where did he put it?” Bellamy growled, sparing a warning glance to Clarke. “Tell me where it is, Murphy, or so help me god I’ll-“
“You’ll what?” Murphy taunted. “I don’t know anything about your drugs.”
Bellamy lunged across Clarke’s lap, grabbed Murphy’s hair and slammed his fist into the other man’s face. Both of them plunged into the water. Clarke just barely managed to avoid going with them, but immediately she and Emori scrambled to rebalance the raft and keep from losing their catch.
“Bellamy! Murphy!” Clarke yelped as she spread herself over the raft to look to where the two men splashed and wrestled and drowned.
Murphy managed to launch himself high enough to land a rough elbow to Bellamy’s nose. Bellamy shoved Murphy away and the two separated themselves to gasp for air and nurse their wounds. “What the fuck man?” Murphy shouted once he had raked enough air back into his lungs. “What the fuck? I didn’t do shit to you!”
“You have my shit!” Bellamy’s voice cracked.
“I didn’t take nothing from you!” Murphy snarled. “Keep your dumb ass away from me!”
The two finally clambered back onto the raft fuming and glaring at each other. “Well, we might as well get back to shore. Now that you idiots scared all the fish away.” Emori snapped.
Clarke shook her head as Rashid and Pike got to work pulling them back towards shore. “What the hell was that about?” Clarke demanded, cornering Bellamy and Murphy with Emori’s help. “What is so important about your bag?”
Bellamy paled noticeably. “None of your business.”
“You made it my business when you punched Murphy in the face and risked drowning us all and starving our people!” Clarke snapped. “What was in the bag?”
Bellamy stared hard at Clarke. “Drugs. Cocaine. Shitty cocaine, cut mostly with cane sugar and laundry detergent.”
Clarke’s eyes widened. “You were smuggling drugs?”
“No!” Bellamy yelped. “Well, yes. I’m doing a favor for a friend. That’s it. I’m not in a drug cartel or anything.”
Murphy snorted. “Of course it was drugs.”
“Like you didn’t know!” Bellamy boomed.
“I didn’t actually!” Murphy snarled back. “What the hell makes you think I did?”
“Jasper told me you knew, that you had it.”
“I don’t!”
“I can vouch for him.” Emori drawled, glaring at Bellamy. “He hasn’t talked to Jasper since last week.”
“That bastard.” Murphy growled.
Finally the raft ran aground and the six people unloaded and dragged their catch back up the cliff towards camp. Murphy stormed forward, and it was all Clarke could do to keep up with him. When they did enter camp, everything was a mess. The corpse of the dying woman had been dragged off to the side to be burnt or buried, and Aden was curled up in Lexa’s side, his mother nowhere to be found. Kane was pacing, explaining something rapidly and nervously, and Miller and Jasper stood to the side with their arms crossed and heads bent.
“Jasper you fucking bastard!” Murphy snarled as he stormed through camp.
“Murphy, stop!” Clarke demanded, grabbing his bare, sunburned shoulder. “Stop!”
Murphy shrugged her away and grabbing the skinny boy and immediately punched him in the face. “You fucking rat faced liar! You wanted me dead!”
Bellamy stormed forward, yanking Murphy from Jasper and rounding on him. “Where the fuck is it?”
“What?” Jasper yelped, nursing his bleeding nose.
“The cocaine asshole.” Murphy drawled, crossing his arms, muscles flexing. “The shit you tried to frame me with.”
Jasper sputtered and Bellamy yanked his head up by his hair. “Where is it?”
“Bellamy what the hell?” Octavia gasped from where she lay in the shade of a lean-to. “Cocaine?”
Bellamy stared down at his sister with wide eyes. “I-“
“Cocaine, Bellamy?” Octavia accused.
“It’s not what you think-“
“Oh it’s not what I think?” Octavia growled. “What is it then?”
Jasper sneered. “It’s a favor for a friend right, Bell?”
Bellamy whipped around and shoved him away. “Shut your fucking mouth!”
“A favor for who, Bellamy?” Octavia demanded. “Tell me the truth.”
“Yeah, tell her the truth.” Jasper sneered.
Murphy stepped forward furiously. “You best shut your mouth before I break your fucking jaw, asshole. You almost got me killed.”
“Bellamy,” Octavia warned, glaring up at him. Even injured and pale she managed to look fierce.
Bellamy tensed, and Jasper wisely backed away from him. “Shumway,”
Octavia froze. “Shumway?” She gaped. “Lincoln’s arresting officer?”
Bellamy looked away, jaw tensing, teeth grinding. Clarke could see the wheels turning in his head as he struggled to face his sister. “Yes,”
“The same guy who arrested my boyfriend for possession of cocaine?”
Bellamy was silent. “Yes,”
Octavia clenched her jaw. “Shumway planted that cocaine on Lincoln, didn’t he?” Bellamy didn’t answer. “Didn’t he?” She screamed, her voice echoed across the cliffs and was lost to the water below them.
Bellamy gulped. “Yes,”
The entire camp was silent as they watched the siblings stare at each other. “You really hated him that much?” Octavia muttered.
Bellamy hung his head. “He was dangerous, Octavia. He was with the wrong crowd.”
“Evidently, I’m the one in the wrong crowd! You’re the dangerous one!” She screamed. “He’s in prison because of you!”
Bellamy seemed to shrink under the harsh gaze of his sister. “O, I’m-“
“What the fuck!” Someone screamed from the edge of camp. “Fuck!”
Clarke and the rest rushed forward, leaving the drama to follow Raven’s shouts. “Lexa, is that?” Clarke whispered as she reached where Lexa had stopped near the edge of camp.
Lexa stood next to Clarke and gaped at the horizon. “That’s a mushroom cloud.”
Raven screamed and kicked at the discarded parts surrounding her feet. “Fuck! This shit won’t help us anymore. Fuck!”
Clarke stared in horror as the cloud slowly rose above the horizon, eclipsing the setting sun. “This can’t be real.”
Lexa raised her hand to rest on Clarke’s shoulder. “Aden’s mother is gone. Kane told us that she fell from the cliffs, died on the rocks at the bottom. Aden’s alone. Apparently, so are we.” She was trembling, but Clarke was the only one to notice.
But absolutely no one noticed Murphy grab Jasper and snap his neck during the chaos.