TWENTY EIGHT.   even the iron still fears the rot

     
When Tatum first woke up in the sky box, it was pitch black. It was dark and cold. She woke up and didn't know where she was. She couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. After a while, she called out to someone, anyone. When nobody responded,  her voice grew louder, and louder, and louder. She shouted for what seemed like forever but there was nobody. She was alone.

She realized she was in the sky box and they had stuck her with a needle to make her pass out. They threw her in the capsulated space like she meant nothing. Like she wasn't a person. For a while, Tatum believed she wasn't a person. She was a murderer. Her hands were stained with the blood of her sins. Her body was scarred and bruised. There was no concept of time in that box. She didn't know how long she had been in there for.

She cried most nights in loneliness. She missed her friends and she often wondered if they missed her too. Just the other day, she was stealing rations with Jasper and helping Monty with his homework. They were running from those who tried catching them for stealing. She could still hear the sound of their laughs. It made her cry more. What did I do to deserve this? She thought. She killed someone in cold blood and she felt no remorse.

Am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?

The memories of being left to rot in the sky box resurfaced when Tatum opened her eyes and saw nothing but darkness. Her brain pounded against her head and sent an immense pain in the back of her skull. She groaned at the ache. She looked around her but saw nothing but darkness. She saw the faint outline of her hands and touched them to her face. She was alive. "Hello?" Her voice was weak and it cracked. There was no response. "Hello?" She called out louder and groaned when she felt the pain in her throat.

When she moved her arm, she heard the rattling of metal and something closed around her wrist. Panic settled in her chest. She touched it quickly and it was cold. She trailed her hand downward and felt a long chain attached to the cuff. "No, no, no—"

She jerked her wrist but there was no used. When she moved her legs, there was another rattling sound, and she realized her ankle was cuffed also. "Help me!" She cried out, her voice breaking from dehydration. "SOMEONE HELP ME, PLEASE!" She managed to scream.

She cried out over and over again but nobody came. "Octavia!" She weeped and hoped that her friend would come. That she didn't abandon her. A loud cry escaped her lips and she curled up on the hard ground, hugging herself as she cried more.

Bellamy felt Murphy pull him down to the ground. The group hid behind a shrub of bushes and he quickly realized they were looking at the grounder camp. "This is it," Murphy uttered. He shot the man a bitter look. "Told you i'd find it."

He ignored him and lifted his rifle, looking through the scope. All he could see was grounders. "I see nothing but grounders. Our people aren't here." He said out loud.

Finn was looking through the other gun when he spotted something. "Wait a minute. They've got stuff from our drop ship." He announced to them.

Bellamy instantly looked back into the scope. His stomach did somersaults. "So maybe they know where our friends are." He hoped.

"Yeah, or maybe they killed them already." Murphy grunted.

Bellamy glared at him.

"Son of a bitch." Muttered Finn.

"What is it?"

"The guy with the one eye. Around his neck,"

Bellamy looked into the scope again at what he was talking about. "What am I looking at?" He questioned in confusion.

"He's got Clarke's watch. It was her father's." He told him while staring directly at the watch that dangled from the grounder's neck.

Bellamy looked harder. He watched the grounders in disgust and anger as they messed with the stuff that used to belong to them. Then, all at once, he felt like his heart was going to stop and his breath hitched in his throat.

It was a grounder, and he was tall with dark hair that went all the way down his back. He had scars covering his face. In his hands was a jacket. Bellamy recognized the leather anywhere. He felt something inside him darken. "That's Tatum's jacket."

Murphy and Finn quickly looked at him. "What?" Questioned the spacewalker.

Bellamy went to stand up and storm into the camp but Murphy quickly grabbed his arm to keep him from going anywhere. "Whoa, woah, whoa, what are you doing?"

"They know where she is. They know where they all are."

"So what's your plan, huh? You're gonna storm into the camp and kill them yourself?"

"If it means getting her back then yes."

"Bellamy, you can't go alone." Said Finn, joining the conversation.

"They know where they are!" He repeated louder and angrier.

"Hey, hey—" Finn stood in front of him. "I know,  okay? I know. But what you're talking about is suicide."

Bellamy went silent and the two of them stared at each other, contemplating in their own heads. Murphy still had a grip on his arm. He glanced between the two of them and they had the same look on their faces. "Okay, you're with me." He said to Finn. Then he looked between Monroe and Sterling. "You two stay here out of sight. If this thing goes south, take out the other grounders. But don't shoot the grounders with the watch and the jacket. Copy?" He instructed.

"Copy." They both said. Munroe eyed Murphy. "What about Murphy?"

"Yeah, do I get a gun now?" He asked smartly

"Something like that." Bellamy grunted and grabbed him by his jacket, hoisting him up. The three walked quietly into the woods and kept themselves low and out of sight. They separated and Bellamy quickly hid behind one of the trees and kept his rifle pressed to his beating chest. He tightened his grip on it until his hands turned white.

Hearing the sound of tree limbs crunching, Bellamy peeked his head around and saw the one eyed grounder walking around slowly. When his back was facing him, he appeared behind him. As soon as the grounder turned around, he hit him across the face with the rifle with a loud grunt.

The grounder fell to the ground, out cold.

Finn and Murphy appeared from behind them trees. In Murphy's hand was Tatum's jacket. "I got the other one over there," the spacewalker told them and pointed behind him. "He's out like a light." He quickly snatched the watch from the one eyes grounder's neck.

"We need to take them somewhere quiet." Bellamy stated.

"I know just the place."

His eyes shifted to Murphy, who stood in the back quietly. They trailed down to the jacket in his hands and his expression fell. With no words, Murphy handed him the jacket. Bellamy slowly reached out and took it, gripping the leather in his large hands. His throat tightened. Even when it was ripped and dirty, it was beautiful because it was hers. He held it close to him and inhaled a deep breath.

Finn almost frowned at his vulnerability. Bellamy put on an act that he was tough and that nothing affected him, but Tatum brought out another side of him. He loved her. He put a hand on the back of his neck. "We're going to find her. We're gonna find all of them."  He promised.

Bellamy brought the jacket to his nose and inhaled again, her scent still lingering on the leather. He closed his eyes. "I know we are."

When Tatum woke up, she saw peaks of light from outside. She finally saw an outline of where she was. Wood. A door. She realized she was in a hut. She'd been curled into a ball position all night, terrified of someone getting a hold of her, that she only found comfort in her own hold. She groaned at the ache in her bones. The shackles cut in her skin, making it raw.

Sunlight peeked through the small holes of the hut and she saw the blue sky. She sat up from the ground. The shackles were attached to a wooden pole built into the hut. She could hear noise and chatter from outside. "Hello?" She called out. Her voice was scratchy from crying all night. "Someone help me. Please!"

The door swung open with force and a grounder stood in the doorway, his shadow making him appear dark. Tatum backed into the corner of the hut and brought her knees to her chest, fear rising in her chest. She wrapped her arms around herself again.

The grounder stood in front of her with a dark glare which only made her cower in fear more. Tears welled in her blue eyes. "W-W-Who are you?" She stuttered. She for no response. "Where am I?" Her voice trembled. But she knew the answer. She was in the grounder camp.

The grounder threw a piece of stale bread on the floor in front of her. Tatum eyed it but made no attempt to grab it. "Why am I here?" She whimpered again.

"Yu laik a problem kom osir, skai gada," the grounder spoke. His voice chilled her bones in the most fearful way.  "Indra orders osir kom ge rid gon hogeda problems." You are a problem to us, sky girl. Indra orders us to get rid of all problems.

"Where's Octavia?"

"Gone."

When left the hut without another word. Shaking uncontrollably, Tatum laid her head on her knees and started crying again, praying to whatever god there was to get her out.