Leaving my comforting space, I turned my back to the tent before making my way over to the group, glancing over my shoulder one last time.

"You ready?" Jasper asked holding his gun close to her chest.

I nodded with a sigh, looking up at him, noticing his goggles weren't placed on top of his head like usual. The two of us waited with some other for the next orders from either Bellamy or Clarke.

From inside the dropship, we could hear Raven screams. Turns out all the shots we heard were Murphy shooting at her and he was successful, getting her right in her spine. Clarke was doing everything she could to help Raven. Just more things to add to the list of reasons why I hate John Murphy.

After waiting for about another 20 minutes, we were finally set to leave. With orders from Bellamy, the gate opened and I took one last look at the place we called home for the past few months. It looked like a ghost town as if no one had been there for years, the only sign of our existence was the red embers that sizzled in the firepit.

There were no teenagers running around and doing whatever the hell they wanted.

No one was jumping down from the dropship to stop a fight between two alpha males.

No young girls sitting up in a tree telling their darkest secrets to each other.

No one was sitting by the campfire telling stories about their childhood and laughing with friends no one expected to make in any other situation.

It was just empty and clear that whoever had been here left in a rush.

Letting out a sigh, I took a mental picture, never wanting to forget this place, for it had surprisingly helped me through so much. I turned my back to the home we had built from nothing before making my way past the gate, following the long line of delinquents leading us to safety.

The gunners were first to leave, making sure to keep looking out for anything that could possibly kill us during the 120-mile track to the ocean. Jasper called out to me, wanting to make sure I was near him so he knew where I was if anything went down. I caught up to him and Miller, walking alongside them and another delinquent named Drew as they spoke about the ocean, billions of gallons of water filled with salt, just waiting for our arrival.

"You know what I'm gonna do when we get to the beach?" Miller asked.

I jumped onto his back holding onto to him tightly. "What?"

He held my legs, flashing a smile at me. "I'ma go surfing."

Chuckling slightly, I shook my head. "I'm pretty sure you need to know how to swim before you can surf."

Jasper rolled his eyes with a sight, "Quiet, keep your eyes open and hey, be careful with her," he said to Miller, referring to me on his back.

"No more wood. A view of the ocean. No more damn trees, just pale blue water." Drew babbled with a smile, looking up at the sky.

Our conversation was cut short however due to Octavia putting up her hand, motioning for us to stop.

The group went quiet, holding our breath, not daring to make a sound as we waited for Octavia to give us the green light again, but it never came.

"What is it?" Jasper asked breaking the silence.

We stood there for a moment, not knowing what to expect when suddenly a disc with blades for edges flew from out of nowhere hitting Drew in the face, killing him instantly. His blood splattered across mine and Miller's faces due to how close were had been standing to him.

Time seemed to stop as everyone froze, watching as his body fell limp to the forest floor.

"Grounders!" Jasper screamed, dragging it out in order to get the point across.

Every single teenage delinquent turned on their heels, retreating back to camp, the only safe place we know. Miller spun around so fast, I almost lost my grip from around him. He kept me on his back as he ran, due to me still feeling a slight pain in my leg where the arrow hit whenever I ran.

Once back at camp, we rushed behind the walls, screaming in fear that they were right behind us. The gunners went straight to their posts, just like how they practiced, ready to shoot when given the order. Everyone else frantically gathered in a circle with Clarke and Bellamy in the center standing on one of the gunner's posts, which was a platform about 3 feet above the ground, giving them a height advantage.

I dropped down from Millers back, "Why aren't they attacking?" I asked when it was too quiet outside the walls.

Clarke was the first to speak, turning to look down at Finn. "Lincoln said the scouts would be the first to arrive, right?" Clarke asked.

"If it's just the scouts, we can fight our way out!" Octavia shouted looking up at her older brother who stood higher due to the platform, "That's what Lincoln would do."

Bellamy shook his head. "We're done doing what that grounder would do." He jumped from the gunner post, landing next to his sister. "We tried it and now Drew's dead, wanna be next?"

"That 'Grounder' saved our life," Finn defended, "I agree with Octavia. For all we know, there's one scout out there."

I scoffed wide eyes at him. "Yeah, a scout with a really good aim."

"Clarke we can still do this." Octavia pleaded with the co-leader of the remaining 86.

"Looking to you, princess," Bellamy sighed, still holding his gun close to him. "What's it gonna be? Run and get pick off in the open of stand or fight back?"

The young blonde had to think for a moment, not sure what to do. She didn't for any of this, it was just given to her. No matter what she chooses she was gonna have to live with the outcome. Clarke scanned over the crowd for a final time before meeting the gaze of Bellamy Blake, jumping down from the platform.

Finn grabbed her arm so she would face him. "Clarke if we're still here when the Grounders get here--"

She pulled her arm back, "Lincoln said 'Scouts.' More than one. He said 'Get home before the scouts arrive.' Finn, they're already here." Clarke spun around to face Bellamy "Looks like you've got your fight."

My heart sank, knowing that this war would result in the loss of many lives and I don't think I'm ready to see more people die.

"Okay, this is what we've been preparing for!" Bell yelled to the crowd, "Kill them before they kill us! Gunners, to your posts! Use the tunnels to get in and out, from now on that gate stays shut!" Bellamy ordered.

Everyone followed the directions and did as told, running around getting to their posts and preparing for war.

I tried to follow Jasper through one of the tunnels, but Bellamy pulled me back. "Where do you think you're going? You're not a gunner."

"What do you want me to do then?" I asked, not wanting to feel useless.

"I want you to stay in the dropship with Raven, where it's safe," he expressed. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Ari, please. I can't risk you getting hurt again, or worse." I sighed and nodded my head.

Bell stepped closer to me, using his sleeve to rub off the slightly dried blood from Drew. "Thank you," he breathed looking me in the eyes.

Giving him a smile, I turned and made my way to the dropship where Raven was.

-

I sat on the ladder, listening while Bellamy, Finn, Clarke, and Raven discussed what our next move would be.

"All foxholes listen up, keep your eyes and ears open. Hold them long enough to make them turn back. That's the plan." Bellamy said into the radio.

"That's always the plan, just like the bomb at the bridge," Finn commented.

Bellamy leaned on the table glaring at him. "You got a better idea?" He asked.

The two began to go back and forth while I looked over the diorama that had been built out of pinecones and rocks, set up on the table. I was lost in my thoughts, working out a plan in my head when it finally came to me.

"It can't be that simple," I muttered to myself, grabbing the attention of everyone at the table since I wasn't apart of the conversation before.

"What are you talking about?" Clarke asked standing up straight.

I was silent for a moment, taking my bottom lip in between my teeth, thinking about how I was going to explain this. "Well, there's fuel in those rockets right? Enough to build 100 bombs?" I asked climbing down the ladder and making my way over to the group.

Raven nodded her head. "Yeah, if we had any gunpowder."

I bit the side of my cheek. "I'm not talking about building bombs." Everyone looked at me confused, having no idea what I was leading to. "Why don't we blast off?"

Raven nodded her head. "Draw them in close. Fire the rockets. A ring of fire," she explained, understanding me.

"Barbecued grounders, I like it," Bellamy commented, crossing his arms. "Will it work?" He asked the mechanic.

"The wirings a mess down there, but yeah It'll work."

With that, we put the plan into action. Finn Clarke and I helped Raven with the wiring while Bellamy went out into the now active battlefield.

I sat next to Raven, working on the control panel that would be used to start the rocket busters as Finn and Clarke were in the bottom level of the dropship trying to follow Raven's directions in finding the right wires needed to connect in order for liftoff.

"Raven, we can't find it," Clarke yelled up to her through the open hatch. My eyes glanced over at the wounded girl who suddenly went quiet. Her face was pale and her brows knitted together almost like she was about to cry. "Raven?" Clarke yelled again.

"Raven, are you okay?" I asked, putting down the wire I was holding.

She shook her head slightly, refusing to make eye contact. "I can't feel my legs," she choked out, her voice breaking.

"Hold on we're coming," Clarke called out before climbing up the ladder followed by Finn, kneeling next to the mechanic. The blonde bent her friend over slightly, lifting her shirt so she could examine her back that has begun to turn a dark black and blue.

Clarke shot Finn a worried glance. "That bad huh?" Raven asked sucking in a breath as she leaned back, hold her side in pain.

"Raven, the bullets in your spine...you're bleeding internally."

With a sigh, I ran my hand through my mess of hair, fearing the worst for the true Spacewalker I had come to know.

"Better do this fast then, huh?" Raven asked, trying to make light of the grim situation. "Get back down there."

Clarke gave the girl a sympathetic look, opening her mouth to protest but nothing came out.

This couldn't be the end of Raven, she was far too valuable to everyone for her just be gone. "What if we can slow the bleeding?" I asked, "Would that help?"

"Of course it would help, can you tell me how to do that?" Clarke sassed, not fully meaning to but with our friend on the verge of death and the war going on outside we were all on edge.

"Lincoln had some of that stuff, didn't he?" Finn reminded her. "I'm betting if I can get to his cave I can find some-"

"Wait a second, no-" Raven cut him off, protesting the idea, "-Clarke, tell him he's being stupid."

Again Clarke had no idea what to say, letting the two teenagers bicker until coming to the conclusion that Finn was, in fact, going to try and make his way to Lincoln's cave to get the medicine needed in order to save Raven, much to her dismay.

With Finn gone, it was up to Clarke and me to get the wiring below the dropship done, and we needed it done soon. The sounds of shots coming from the battlefield were muffled to us while we were inside but yet we could still hear all the screams and pops from gunfire over the radio, clear as day. The sounds made my stomach turn as every bad thought I could possibly think ran across my mind.

"Do you see it?" Raven asked, pulling me out of my own head.

"No, it's a mess down here," Clarke responded with a sigh, "How am I going to find anything?"

"It's an orange wire," I reminded her, continuing to shine the light around the small space.

"You have to find the wire the connects to main power, it's not rocket science!" Raven yelled down to us, frustrated that we weren't getting it done fast enough.

"It is rocket science, actually," I shot back.

After looking around for a what seemed like hours, listening to the gunshots over the radio and being sick to my stomach, Clarke finally found the wire.

"Raven I found it. The orange wire!" she yelled excitedly.

"About time," Raven chuckled, her voice growing weaker. "Now follow that wire to the override panel."

Smiling, Clarke pulled at the wire, but of course, it was too good to be true. At the end of the orange cable, it was black and shriveled up.

"Raven, its fried totally useless," I explained.

She went quiet, clearly thinking of what to do next in this situation.

"Tell me isn't as bad as I think?" Clarke asked.

"You know how to splice a wire?" Raven questioned. Clarke looked over at me with a pleading look, one that I returned as I shrugged hopelessly, shaking my head.

"No," the blonde answered.

Raven seemed to let out an annoyed whine before she responded. "Than its worse."

"We need back up!" I heard Jasper yell over the radio, the sound of an explosion following.

That's when it hit me. "Jasper knows how to splice a wire!" I remembered, thinking of a story he once told me.

Clarke, with her blue eyes wide, picked up the radio. "Jasper, we need you in the dropship right now."

It didn't take long for Jasper to get here, excited that he had a reason the flee the war going on outside the walls of the dropship.

"What's up?" he asked.

Standing on the ladder, my bottom half below the floor and my top half above, I explained the situation, "We need your help, you're the only person I know who can splice a wire," I said before going to climb back down the ladder.

The three of us gather around the wire, watching Jasper as he worked. "Okay, Raven tell us again how this is going to work?" Clarke asked for about the 5th time.

"I already told you," Raven sighed before explained again what to do tiredly. Jasper spliced the wire and hooked it up to the panel

"Alright Raven, what do we do next." This time, she didn't respond, sending a sense of worry across the three of us. "Raven?" Clarke called out. Still, no answer. The blonde, worried for her friend, jumped up and climbed the ladder to check on the only mechanic we had. Jasper followed after her.

"Is she-" he went to ask but Clarke cut him off.

"Not yet, but soon," she explained.

It was unspoken but we knew that Clarke was talking about Raven dying.

"They've broken through!" someone yelled over the radio suddenly. "There are hundreds of them, they're heading for the gates, game over man!"

The cried made my stomach turn. They were just kids, not one over the age of 18 besides Bellamy, and they were out there dying. This shouldn't be how their lives ended. Their last few moments on this earth shouldn't be them scared and fighting for their lives.

"Finish it," Clarke ordered Jasper and me before she hurried out of the dropship.

I looked over at Jasper, worried. "We got this right?" I asked, not having much faith in myself.

Jasper nodded his head, repeating the direction given by Raven. "Current to magnet, to valve, to barbecue." The shakiness in his voice made my heart break. The lives of the remaining 100, now rely upon the hands of the one teenage criminal who barely knows what he's doing.

I sat next to Raven's unconscious body, refusing to let her die alone, while also trying to figure out the control panel. Suddenly, everyone who was left from the battle, including Clarke and finally Finn, began to run inside the dropship, some climbing to the upper levels, all screaming.

Clarke was quick to give Raven the medicine she needed in order to live as a loud boom shook the whole ship, causing me to let out a shriek.

"Jasper we have to finish this now!" I yelled down to him.

"Clarke they're taking down the Gates," Miller said running into the dropship, holding his right shoulder that seems to have been hit.

"Good because I did it. I think." Jasper unsurprisingly said, climbing up the ladder. The sound of the fence we had built from nothing crashing to the ground caused us to all jump.

"I am closing that door!" Miller yelled, running over to the lever.

Clarke was quick to stop him. "Wait, we still have people out there. Bellamy's not back yet."

Finn and Clarke walked outside, into the active warzone and called for everyone to get inside.

Jasper handed me the control panel for the dropship after tweaking a few things and explained to me that in order to lift off the ground and kill the Grounders like intended, I only had to hit two buttons when he was done with the wiring.

All the was left the remaining gunner, ran inside, all except for Bellamy, Finn, and Clarke. They were who We were waiting on because there was no way in hell I was going to let them die in the ring of fire as we lifted off.

"Come on Bell," I mutter to myself, keeping my eyes trained on the door.

Clarke was the one to return, tears streaming down her cheeks as she reached out for the lever. I throw the control panel at Jasper and ran to the door.

"No!" I screamed, lunging at the blonde but Miller grabbed me with his unharmed arm, holding me back. "Bellamy's no here! We can't leave him!"

Clarke gave me a sympathetic look. "He-he didn't make it," she choked out.

The large metal door to the dropship began to close and just as it was about to shut completely the leader of the Grounders, the same woman Clarke meet at the bridge rolled into the small space.

"Jasper now!" Clarke yelled turning to him. He gave a nod and hit the switch but...there was nothing. Everyone went quiet. No shake to the dropship, no loud rumbles of the rockets, nothing. Jasper continued to hit the switch over and over but it was no use. Miller set me beside him and turned back to the Grounder like many of the other criminals had, beginning to punch and kick her.

Whipping away tears that had formed, I looked over to Jasper, who was frantic and helped him fix the controls, taking apart a lamp and contacting one of the wires to another. He pulled apart a green and a blue wire, praying to himself that this was going to work and he contacted them to the control causing a spark.

Suddenly the dropship shook and the lifted a few inches in the air. Everyone yelled and stumbled to the ground. The screams of the burning Grounder made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

It stopped after about a minute and the ship fell back on the ground. It seemed as though the remaining group of teenager criminals went silent. Holding their breath and waiting for their next order.

Before she was able to do any damage Miller tied the Grounder up as Clarke opened the door. Black smoke poured into the small area, making it hard to breathe and we had to get out of there.

Stumbling out of the dropship, holding our arms over our mouths as we coughed, the ground was covered in ash.

All the remains of the camp we had worked so hard to build was nothing but black coal and dust. The tree I had once climbed and spent more of my days in, had fallen over and burned to crips.