บท 36: Chapter 36 We are grounders

When I thought that everything couldn't become worse than it was already, Neil had to evade it in the worst possible way imaginable. That damned idiot stole a gun from god knows where and just start blasting his way out, blowing out a part of the dropship and shooting Raven, before he throw the gun away and got himself lost in the forest. We didn't even bother chasing after him, especially since we found out Clarke, Finn and surpassingly Wells coming out of some mining tunnels. Monty disappeared while we were searching for Clarke and above all, we can't even search for him thanks to what we just learned.

Who would have guessed that Lincoln would risk everything to save three children of the sky as the grounders call us, and even more so almost getting himself killed by a bunch of reapers when he used himself as bait so that our friends can safely move through the mountain?

I didn't ask Clarke what happened to them, but she still told me almost everything from how she killed a grounder to saving Anya's second-in-command and even getting help from more than one grounder that was against this whole war started by a mad commander.

In the dropship at the camp, Clarke was taking care of Raven's gunshot wound, when she saw me and Bellamy looking through Lincoln's journal.

"What are you looking for, guys?"

"The reappears, can we somehow ally ourselves with them?"

"They are even worse than the grounders. The reapers are cannibals, not to mention that they are even more savage than the grounders."

"That means that we are going to go with our plan. I'll go and help Sergey laying mines all around our camp."

"You do that, Bellamy. I'll stay here for a while before I'll come and help as well."

"Don't worry, Leon, we can take care of the minefields with how many people are working just fine. But if you want to help, you can go to Monroe's side, she and Miller are preparing the left trench for tonight."

After Bellamy left the dropship, I went to Raven's side looking at her weakened state in worry.

"For fuck sake, don't look at me like that, lover boy. I'm not dying today."

"Hey, I'm worried about my friend here, a little bit of respect would welcome."

"I'm fine, really. Don't worry about me, Leon. Clarke tells him."

I turned my head towards Clarke, who didn't know how to react to how much we loved bickering amongst ourselves when we got the chance. We usually do this when we want to forget about something or simply take our minds away from something.

"The bullet is still inside of her, but I can't take it out, no matter what I do. At least not without the proper equipment and especially with all the time in the world. Thanks to the new leader that took over Anya's forces, we are expecting to be attacked tonight and I won't be able to help Raven even if I start now. She needs a proper doctor, not someone like me who just knows the basics thanks to her mom."

"Don't worry princess, we'll survive the night, no matter what we have to do."

I left the girls alone as I walked out of the dropship, hoping to take my mind off what was going to happen tonight by working around the camp, fortifying, or even making even more bullets to use. We, by any means, weren't soldiers and the guns didn't mean that we were better than the grounders, but at least we will be able to kill them before they would reach our lines if nothing else.

Strangely enough, all of the kids here were willing to stay back and fight to the death against the grounders primarily for me, but a part of me wanted to follow Octavia's plan of getting away from this place and make a run for the sea where this supposed friend of Lincoln may help us.

Meanwhile, Murphy, who had just come out of the infirmary tent, saw me looking torn by something. He walked next to me before he asked me what was wrong.

"What can make you so lost in your thoughts?"

"We are going to be attacked tonight, there's no doubt about it."

"Leon, I still don't seem to understand what the problem here is. We always knew that these people would attack us and now, we got our fight with them on our terms."

"Twelve people died since we got dropped here. Twelve people died while I led them to their death when I decided to fight the grounders."

"Here you are wrong. We weren't forced to follow you, we did it because we believe in you, and some believe in you more than others do, but at the end of the day, thanks to you, eighty-eight people were saved. You were the only one that believe me and didn't try to hang me when we thought Wells was killed. You were the guy that made Bellamy realize how wrong his rebellion was. You helped everyone learn how to fight to some extent in close combat and above all, you tried your best to help everyone to the best of your abilities. Don't even think that you failed as a leader. Leon, you did more than everyone in this entire world did for us and no matter what you decide, people will follow you."

"Thanks, John those words mean a lot."

"Just do what you think it's best for us, Leon. No one will hate you for trying."

After talking a little bit longer with all of my friends and even some of the kids around the camp, I decided that Octavia's plan would be our best bet. Not long after I told them that we are abandoning the place, everyone got ready for marching towards the ocean where hopefully, Luna would take us in.

As soon as we left our camp, I start to feel that something was off. Knowing the grounders, they should have already sent a scout or two ahead of the army to learn about us and give more information about our current numbers and position, but here we were marching through the woods with no grounder after us. Either this Tristan didn't like to use his scouts or we were walking right into a trap.

That feeling was getting worse and worse as we continue to walk and before we end up in the middle of an ambush, I decide to raise my fist in the air, stopping the whole camp to a halt. Not even a second after we stopped a blade flew out of the tree line directly towards my head. Thankfully for me, as soon as I felt that strange sensation, all of my senses went into override making me react to anything as soon as it happened. The blade didn't manage to reach its target as I grabbed it just when it was about to connect with my head before I throw it back towards the grounder that had decided to target me.

He didn't even see the blade coming toward him and when he saw the blade in front of him, it was already too late for him to dodge. A second later, a body hit the ground.

With the scots snooping around, we weren't in any position to run away from here, meaning that we have to stand back and fight.

As soon as we returned back to our camp, I had everyone ready on the walls and towards the trenches. If Anya and Tristan want a fight, they'll get the bloodiest one their entire tribe had ever seen tonight, especially thanks to Raven's trump card.

Bellamy and I took the trenches as the main road was the most defended one, especially with the sheer amount of mines lying in front of the main road. As such, not many people were left there while most of our forces went to the trenches. I took the side where Sergey put his machine gun nest while Bellamy went to where Miller and Monroe were stationed.

"I see 'em!"

One of the girls yelled as soon as she saw the first grounder. She seemed to calculate the distance and direction before she was dragged down by the guy next to her.

"Keep down. There's gonna be blood and shit in the air. And I don't wanna see you getting speared by a grounder."

I made some adjustments to my machine gun before I looked up toward Sergey and me and gave thumbs up. He was probably the only one who could smile in a situation like this.

"Use the dummy ammo! Make them believe we are wasting our ammo on them."

That worked wonders for us, as after everyone emptied their dummy magazines, the grounders let out a war cry before charging our lines. As soon as we saw them, everyone open fire.

Sergey was probably the only guy other than me and Bellamy that could shoot a gun with such accuracy. And as soon as the grounders reached his line of fire he unleashed hell upon them. The grounders weren't expecting this kind of firepower from us and thanks to that, our side managed to force the enemy back. The amount of concentrated fire that we unleashed upon the grounders left behind tens of slung chunks of flesh, cloth, leather, and cold weapons all over the ground. Everyone you could look at, a grounder could be seen dead. As brutal as it may seem, we didn't give them any chance to even the odds.

We waited another minute or two. When nothing moved in the trees, no sound, we assumed the attack had ended successfully for our side.

"Your call, we can stay here the whole night, Leon," Sergey remarked cheerfully as he begged me to stay here the whole night like some madman.

"We wait, knowing Anya, they haven't even started their assault."

The other side wasn't faring as well as my side, but thanks to Bellamy, Monroe, and Miller giving out orders, they managed to hold the first wave with minimal casualties as they faced a pack of velociraptors. The pack managed to break through the left flank of their trench line and got their teeth and claws on an unfortunate guy before the oversized birds got filled with lead.

The grounders next wave started soon after the first wave ended completely and we were forced to face their main force. Spears and arrows flew downhill towards our line forcing us to hide. Fortunately, Sergey and I were moving fast, ducking and dodging, from one side to the other to offer to suppress the fire with our machine guns.

We fared more accurately with our return fire. My machine gun scored four of them who in their eagerness to bring us down had left the protection of the tree and jumped into the open. Sergey's own mg engulfed a whole group of them. So far our defense was working and only one guy died. Tracers singed into their bodies and jerked them around like puppets controlled by a spastic hand. Hot tracers oozed tendrils of smoke from the holes they punched into flesh. No grounder managed to reach us until a suicidal grounder jumped from up in the sky. He climbed all the way to the top of the tree and when he was just above us, he jumped unleashing the venomous liquid of the velociraptors when he hit the ground. Even in death, he managed to paralyze our line.

Almost a third of the delinquents got hit by that paralyzing venom, completely disturbing our defense and forcing us to retreat. I couldn't let these people die here so as anyone else would do, I grabbed the first downed guy and dragged him towards the tunnels. As soon as everyone saw me dragging one of the downed delinquents they joined me. Some stayed and fired at the grounders that were quickly making their way towards while some start taking the wounded back to the dropship using the tunnels.

When the last downed person was dragged away, I bolted towards the tunnels, but just before I entered, I saw Sergey. Four arrows were sticking out of his chest, but the madman was still blasting his machine gun as if nothing happened.

"Go, Leon! I'll hold them off." He encouraged me with a smile on his face, ready to face death.

I couldn't say anything as two delinquents dragged me back towards the dropship five others decided to stand back and fight so that we can retreat back to our last line of defense.

The grounders didn't give anyone a chance to breathe as they continue to shoot spears and arrows through the air above our heads hoping to hit us. When I got to the dropship, Bellamy and whoever survived from his side were already there fighting off the grounders that broke through the main gate. I quickly ran towards him before I put the machine on the logs that we decided to use as cover. We continue to fire our guns, but the never-ending stream of grounders seems infinite. No matter how many died, two took their place, and meter by meter, they were slowly making their way towards us.

"Take cover!" Bellamy yelled to the top of his lungs as he threw out two grenades into the blob of grounders. While the grenades didn't kill them all, the logs from the walls managed to trap a few of them, stopping the charge completely.

I sprayed the trapped ground as we stood our ground, putting them out of their misery. I paused in astonishment. I had witnessed the carnage this machine gun could do thanks to Sergey, but now I saw the bullets rip and tear the grounders as if they were made of thin paper.

Suddenly something hit me in the shoulder, throwing me back to the ground. Finn and Bellamy, who were close to me, quickly grabbed me and dragged me away as the grounders broke through. The last thing that I saw before I was dragged into the tunnels was Clarke's face looking at us as she closed the hatch.

A few seconds later, the whole forest cry out as hundreds of grounds were burned to ashes by Raven and Jasper.

In the end, we won, but at what cost?