Sunday, 14/09/2149
Sleep that night would have been almost peaceful if it wasn't for my dreams, but I push them to the side for the time as I could hear the forest awaken, I carefully climb out of my makeshift tent with my backpack making sure not to wake murphy who's asleep on the other side of my tent.
As I leave my tent, I can see the dew glistening on the grass and feel the soft ground beneath my feet. The fire from the night before is now just a pile of ashes; I look at the sky as the first light of dawn breaks through the trees. The air is crisp and cool, carrying the fresh scent of pine and earth. Birds start their morning chorus, filling the silence with their melodic songs.
I look around the camp makeshift tents scattered in an oval around the dropship; some pushed back as far as the beginning of the log wall Blake and his crew started yesterday.
"Good morning, Orella," I hear a male's voice to my left as he walks over to me, coming off his guard shift. I had Blake set up last night.
"Morning?" I say, waiting for him to introduce himself.
"Nate Miller," he supplies me as we shake hands.
"Yes, Sergeant Miller's son, I am friends with your father, or at least I was," I mention, causing his eyebrows to raise in surprise before dismissing the topic.
"See anything during your shift?" I ask. He shakes his head, and I let him leave, presumably to find his tent and sleep.
With my canteen filled and backpack ready, I prepare to hunt for breakfast. The forest seems to come alive with hidden wonders. The soft ground muffles my footsteps as I catch sight of a boar trotting a mere five paces to my right. Slowly pulling a spike from my backpack, I attempt to approach the boar stealthily, but it's alerted by an unseen force and scampers away.
Determined not to return empty-handed, I chase after the boar, my gaze flickering between the fleeing animal and the ground to avoid any obstacles. Then, my foot snags on a hard object, sending me crashing to the forest floor, landing on my face. The pain in my arms and nose stings, but not as much as my foot. I sit up, careful of my toes, when I notice a metal hatch.
Before I explore the metal door, I take off my left boot and examine my toes. The tops of them are red and might bruise but not break, thank God; once I put my sock and boot back on, I use all my upper body strength to open the metal hatch. All I can see is darkness and the top of a ladder, but I take my chances and climb down.
Descending cautiously, my feet meet a cold concrete floor, illuminated dimly by a small solar-powered light. The space is filled with shelves bearing a myriad of items: plastic boxes filled with toys, canned food, scattered colouring pencils on a coffee table, and a forgotten kitchen and shower. The discovery of the abandoned bunker fuelled my curiosity, urging me to explore further.
Rummaging through the forgotten treasures, I unearth an assortment of supplies—a seemingly forgotten trove of essentials. Candles, matches, flashlights, a first aid pack, spare batteries, and cooking equipment adorned the shelves. Among these discoveries, a box of tools stands out, a crucial addition to our camp's resources.
I open the first aid pack, finding pain relievers, antibiotics, antiseptics, and plenty of bandages, but my most important find would be the box with the tools in it.
I pack as much stuff I can into my backpack, also packing things into the other bags I find including a large duffle bag and I embarked on the journey back to camp. The sun crept higher in the sky, a silent testament to the passage of time spent within the hidden depths of the bunker. Upon returning, I'm met with a mix of relief and concern from my camp mates, each reacting to my unexpected absence in their own way.
"What did you lose now?" I shout, loud enough to catch Blake's attention. When we make eye contact, he visibly relaxes but marches over to me.
"Where the hell have you been?" he shouts in my face.
I'm taken back by his tone, "Well I was hunting until I tripped over a bunker hatch, but I didn't realise I had to inform you of my whereabouts "I motion to the bags in my hands, and he looks down at them and tries to take them from my hands but I take a step back, he runs a hand down his face.
"Murphy woke up and panicked when he saw you were gone, got a bunch of us involved in searching for you. Why is Murphy sleeping in your tent anyway?" I roll my eyes at him.
"don't need my assistant catching a cold from sleep out the front of my tent, now follow me" I start to walk towards the dropship when I don't hear any footsteps following me, looking back Blake is just standing there gobsmacked, I raise an eyebrow at him and he is quick to follow after me.
In the dropship, Clarke is looking after a young girl with a cut hand. "I have just the thing for you", I grab the first aid kit out of my backpack and hand it over to Clarke, who looks through it.
"Where did you find this?" she asks.
"I tripped over a bunker hatch whilst hunting and found all of this There are more things down there, but I'll need some help, Blake go grab Murphy" he huffs but does as I ask.
Clarke fixes up the girl's hand letting the girl who I learn is named Lilly walk away, before turning to me, "How did you get Bellamy and Murphy to listen to you, they don't seem like they would follow orders, especially from a member of the guard".
"Former member but I knew Murphy before he was arrested as for Blake, well he used to be a cadet, one of my own before he did something stupid and got kicked out" Seemingly satisfied with my answer Clarke begins to help sort through the things I brought back from the bunker just in time for murphy to enter the dropship.
"I got a present for you," I take out one of the nicer pillows and throw it at him; he frowns at me before feeling the pillow.
"Go put it on your bed, grab that bag I made you and meet me out the front of camp in 5 minutes," I said. He stands frozen for a couple of seconds before nodding and leaving with his new pillow.
"I want all the things taken from here to be given to Clarke and Blake. I want EVERYTHING to be sorted and given out equally and based on need, but if people aren't working or contributing, they get nothing. Got it, Murphy." I supervise Murphy and his crew, who carry boxes and bags of things from the bunker towards the camp.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Your Majesty." I roll my eyes but let this one go; I pat his shoulder once before I walk back to camp.
I whistle getting everyone around camp's attention, I address the camp "Despite it only being our second day down here, I've noticed many people leaving camp, I get that most of you have been locked up for more than a year but going into the forest to have sex is not a good idea, NO ONE leaves camp unless told to by Bellamy or myself, We can't afford to search for lost campers because they chose sex over safety, and I want you all to keep in mind we do not have proper medical supplies down here, Clarke is barely making do with what we have found and if everyone is having dangerous forest sex, pregnancy is bound to happen, just keep that in mind," I finish my speech letting everyone get back to work.
Hopefully, those deaths don't come to pass.
I check on Blake and Clarke's progress when we hear a sudden scream piercing the air, prompting me to rush towards the distressed voice. It was a girl named Fox, frantically shouting about Finn, the two of them were exploring and came across a deep ravine which you had to swing across to the other side and when he made it, a spear came out of nowhere hitting him in the chest and when she went to look for him he was gone.
The camp starts to panic about not being alone out here like we were told, but I'm more worried about Finn. He's our best tracker.
"Clarke, Murphy, Blake, Mbege, Harper, you all coming with me. Miller, you're in charge until we come back. Prepare something we can use to carry him back on Clarke." She nods and rushes off to do that while the boys, plus Harper, prepare their weapons.
With the urgency of the situation driving us forward, we follow Fox to the area where Finn was taken from. Bellamy attempts to trace Finn's path, leading us to a river where the trail vanishes.
"Spread out, but stay in pairs, Blake; you're with me." The others pair up, Clarke with Harper and the two Johns together. Together, we search for any sign of Finn.
"Why do you call me that?" I raise an eyebrow in question. "Blake," he's quick to add.
"Habit from your cadet days. If it annoys you that much, I guess I can try to call you bel-la-my," I say, pronouncing every syllable of his first name with a smirk.
He starts to speak, but something catches my eye, and I walk over to it, trekking through the shallow river to the other side.
I whistle, calling the others back to me. "Blood, a trail of it." I lead the group, following the trail of blood, broken sticks, and leaves, before we come across a clearing with a dead tree in the middle.
Finn is tied to the tree, a wound on the right side of his chest covered by a poultice. Before I could issue orders, Clarke impulsively rushed forward, risking her safety. Bellamy and the other rush after her, and I watch it happen before me; one second Clarke is running towards the tree, to find the next second Bellamy holding onto her as she hangs over a drop with sharpened spears at the bottom.
I watch as the two of them stare at each other. Blake just holds onto her, not doing anything. I can see what he was contemplating.
"Bellamy," I say in a warning tone. Mbege rushes forward and helps him pull Clarke up onto the solid ground after snapping into action.
"Next time, wait for instructions," I voice before moving to the tree.
"Clarke, take a second, Murphy; climb up there and start cutting Finn down, Harper, help him." The two of them do as I say while Clarke stands off to the side, looking pale and shaky.
As Murphy and Harper work to free Finn, I instruct Blake and Mbege to monitor the perimeter.
Unsettled by the cruel act of violence, Bellamy and I ponder the motives behind the attack. However, our thoughts are abruptly interrupted by rustling sounds behind us. I flash around with my handgun raised when I see it. A black-furred, yellow-eyed beast stalking Mbege; I wave to get Blake's attention, pointing to the beast. I crouch low, sneaking closer to the beast with my handgun raised before I fire three consecutive shots.
The beast pounces as I shoot. Mbege finally notices the animal and tries to scramble away, but the beast falls lifeless, its weight pinning Mbege beneath it.
As Bellamy assists in retrieving the creature with the cables Murphy used to drag the two-headed deer back to camp yesterday, I turn my attention to Clarke, who appears calmer as she tends to Finn's wound. With the team ready to depart.
We make our way back to camp, but with lingering questions about the dangers lurking in our surroundings.
Upon our return, the camp is abuzz with a mixture of relief and apprehension. The successful rescue of Finn has bolstered our spirits, but the presence of this new threat looms over us like a shadow. I'm not sure they're the threat; it might be us.
I address the camp with a sense of urgency. "as you might have heard we are not alone, there are other people out there but that is no reason to panic, this place is still as dangerous as it was before we knew about these other people, we just have to be a little bit more careful now, NO ONE is to venture towards mount weather which is the direction Finn was heading when he was struck down," as I finish speaking everyone is quick to help build the log wall.