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Aleta itched at the shirt that was tightly wrapped around her injured arm. She carefully stepped around the rubble of the Exodus ship crash. Many of the other campers scoured the wreckage, looking for something. Anything.

Aleta walked alone, not in the mood to be with anyone else. None of them understood. Except for Clarke. Maybe Bellamy. But it was obvious that Clarke wanted to be alone as well. Aleta carefully looked through the debris, hoping to find survivors. She found none.

Bellamy watched her from where he stood, a rifle in his tight grip. He knew that she wanted to be alone. But he didn't want to leave her alone. He knew that it was a recipe for disaster and that if she kept her emotions bottled in, she would self destruct.

Aleta hadn't spoken to him, or anyone, since last night. No one pushed her to talk. Not Raven, who had originally planned to talk to Aleta about her drunken confession. That was before the ship had crashed and she decided against it. Elijah also didn't push her to talk. Despite this, the two desperately wanted to help her. But they knew that there was nothing that they could do.

The charred remains of a person caused Aleta to stop. She stared down at the body, a sad look in her eyes. This could be my mom. Or dad. Or Abby. "Hey," Elijah said, standing next to Aleta. She didn't respond, eyes still on the corpse.

"I know you want to be alone, and I respect that. But I'm a little worried about you. Scratch that, a lot worried. I won't force you to talk to me, but please try to talk to someone. Like Clarke," Elijah says. Aleta blinked, not removing her eyes from the corpse.

"The Exodus ship that my parents were supposedly on crashed last night. They're probably dead and you want me to talk about that, Elijah? I don't want to talk about anything. I just want to know if my parents are actually dead," Aleta said. Elijah looked down, his eyes travelling to where hers were looking.

He looked away from the corpse, placing his hands on her forearms and turning her away from the body. "Don't look at that," he mumbled. "Do you think that's one of my parents? Or Abby?" Aleta asked him, turning her head to look at the body again. "Aleta, stop it," the boy said, turning her head away from the body.

"Don't do that, okay? Don't do that to yourself," he said. "Don't tell me what to do," she replied, pulling her arms from his hands and walking past him. "Stay sharp. Grounder retaliation for what happened on the bridge is coming. It's just a matter of when," Bellamy commanded.

Aleta looked around the area once more before releasing a shaky breath. She took a seat on the ground, away from some debris. She looked at her injured arm in annoyance. "Clarke stop!" Raven called to the girl. She lifted her head up to see Raven running towards the blonde. Aleta then looked down at the ground, ignoring everyone else.

It wasn't until she heard a loud explosion that she looked up again. "We need to the clear the area," Raven informed. Bellamy began giving commands and Aleta stood, brushing dirt from her pants. She walked in the direction of the other campers who began walking back toward the camp.

Bellamy and Raven attempted to walk beside her but she quickened her pace, moving away from them. The two looked at each other and Raven gave him a sympathetic look. "She still needs time, I guess," she said. "I know," he replied gruffly. "But I'm worried," he muttered. "I am too. But, you know Aleta. She's tough and she'll be fine. I know she will," Raven said, trying to reassure both Bellamy, and herself.

••••

Back at camp, Aleta sat alone in the dropship. Well, almost alone. There were a few people here and there, but it was the quietest place in the whole camp that she could find. Night had fallen a few hours ago and Aleta couldn't fall asleep.

So instead, she sat leaned against one of the dropship's walls, quietly humming to herself. She was trying to get her mind off of recent events but it wasn't working that well. It were times like these that she wished she had a book to read to take her mind off of things.

Aleta could feel herself slowly drifting off to sleep. That all changed when the parachute that covered the dropship door was smacked open and a group of delinquents rushed in. They ushered in a boy, two boys supporting him. She rolled her head to the side to get a better look at them. The boy being held up was bloodied and bruised.

The dark haired girl stood from her place on the floor and made her way over to the boy who was set on the ground. He looked even worse up close. "Who is he?" Aleta questioned the group. "John Murphy," one boy said in disgust. Aleta shot him a glare before turning back to the boy.

She crouched down in front of him and examined his face and body. The boy sat shivering on the dropship floor and Aleta turned to the group behind her. "Someone get me some water and rags and a blanket. Also, anything in the upper level that I can use to help him," she instructed.

Nobody moved from their spots and Aleta stood up. "Did I stutter?" She questioned and was met with silence. "Get me what I need," she commanded. The delinquents all looked at each other. "Now!" A boy sighed and nodded his head, walking over to the ladder that led to the upper level.

Aleta crouched in front of John again and thought of what she could do in that moment. "Hey, don't get too close to him," a blond boy holding a gun says. "Why not?" She questioned. "Because he's dangerous," the boy replied. Aleta scoffed, "Look at him. I think I'll be fine."

"Bellamy wouldn't—" the boy was cut off by the glare Aleta sent his way. She turned back to John and offered him a small smile. "You're gonna be okay," she said quietly.

"Where is he?" Bellamy bellowed as he, Clarke, and Finn walked into the dropship. Bellamy stopped and examined Murphy a look, that Aleta couldn't place, on his face. "Everyone but Connor and Derek out. Now!" Bellamy commanded. The delinquents began to disperse but Aleta didn't move. "Aleta, get away from him," Bellamy demanded.

She turned to him, a glower on her face before turning back to John. "He claims he was with the grounders," Derek informed. "We caught him trying to sneak back into camp," Connor added. "I wasn't sneaking. I was running from the grounders," John muttered.

"Anyone see grounders?" Bellamy asked. The two boys shook their heads. "Well in that case," Bellamy said before lifting his rifle and pointing it in Aleta and John's direction. "Aleta move," he commanded. She turned to him and stood up. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?" Finn asked, pushing the rifle down. "We were clear what would happen if he came back," Bellamy said, raising the rifle again.

"Put the gun down, Bellamy," Aleta snapped. "If he was with the grounders then he knows things that could help us," Finn tried to reason. "We hanged him, we banished him, and now we're gonna kill him. Get the hell out of my way," Bellamy said sharply. "No, he's right," Clarke said, walking over to John and squatting next to him. "Like hell he is. Clarke, think about Charlotte," Bellamy said.

Aleta sent the blonde a questioning gaze, which she ignored. "I am thinking about her, but what happened to Charlotte was as much our fault as his," Clarke retorted. The boy from before came down the ladder. In his arms were supplies that he thought could help. He walked over to Aleta and placed the supplies down. "Thanks. You should go," she said and he nodded before walking out of the dropship.

Aleta squatted in front of John again and took one of his bloody hands. "He's not lying," she said to Clarke. "His fingernails were torn off. They tortured him," Clarke realized. "You and the grounders should compare notes," Finn said to Bellamy. "Really, Finn? Now's not the time for jokes," Aleta stated.

"The grounders know we're at war. What did you tell them about us?" Bellamy said, raising his voice. "Everything," John muttered quietly. Aleta gave John a hard look before grabbing one of the rags on the floor. She picked up a makeshift bowl and a canteen full of clean water. "And what if he refuses to leave? What do we do with him then?" She heard Bellamy ask.

She stopped what she was doing and listened for an answer. "Then we kill him," Clarke replied. Aleta shook her head and looked down at the things she was holding. She opened the canteen and poured some of the water into the bowl. She dipped the rag into the bowl and began cleaning John's wounds.

••••

In the morning, Aleta tiredly walked through the camp. She had gotten maybe an hour or two of sleep because she spent most of the night taking care of John. She wrapped her arms around herself as a chill ran up her spine. Her injured arm ached and she tried to ignore the throbbing pain that radiated down her arm.

Elijah spotted her tired form and quickly rushed over to her. "Hey Aleta. How are you doing?" He asked before giving her a once over. "You look like crap," he added. "I feel like crap," she responded before looking over at him. "Who's this John Murphy guy and why was he banished?" She asked. Elijah sighed as he thought of how to explain it all to her.

"It's kind of a long story. But if you really wanna know, I'll tell you," he answered. "I don't think my brain is functioning well enough to hear a long story," she admitted. "Another time then," he said and she nodded. The two fell into an awkward silence and Aleta cleared her throat.

"You feeling okay? You know, with everything going on and your parents and all," he said. "Do you think I'm doing okay?" She asked. "Hell no," he replied immediately. "Well, there's your answer," she said. Elijah sighed and looked at the ground. "Aleta," he began, but stopped when he looked at her face.

His eyes widened in horror and he took a small step back. "What?" She questioned. "Eli, what's wrong?" She asked again. "Y-your eyes," he stuttered. "What about them?" She asked, moving a hand to one of her eyes. She placed her fingers on the skin underneath her eye and froze. She felt a thick, warm substance and quickly pulled her fingers away.

Aleta looked down at them and saw black. Blood. Her blood. Her potentially disease black blood. "What the hell?" She muttered. She took multiple steps away from Elijah and looked around the camp. "Aleta, what's going on?" Elijah asked. Her eyes scoured the camp and she froze again. A few people around camp were coughing. Blood pooled out of their mouths and she frantically looked around.

"Aleta!" Clarke called. The blonde ran over to her friend and stopped a few good feet away. When she noticed the back blood leaking from the brunette's eyes, her own widened and she moved closer. "You too?" She asked Aleta. "Clarke, what is this?" Aleta questioned, seeing the dried red blood stained underneath the blonde's eyes.

"I-I don't know," Clarke answered. She too had seen the few people who were experiencing the same thing as her. "Maybe it's some kind of infection. Or a disease," Aleta said. Did I do this? No, it couldn't have been me, right? I haven't had contact with most of the people who were sick. But someone else that I've been in contact with might have. Clarke shook her head and looked around. "We need to see Murphy," she said. Aleta nodded and the two walked to the dropship.

When they entered, they saw Murphy on the ground, throwing up blood. "Murphy, hey, look at me. I need you to tell me exactly how you escaped from the grounders. What happened?" Clarke said, crouching in front of him. "I don't know. I woke up, and they forgot to lock my cage. There was no one there, so I took off," John replied. Realization dawned on Clarke, "They let you go." So it was the grounders, not her. She felt relieved that she wasn't the one to have caused this before panic began to set in. Aleta took in deep breaths. "Oh my God," she muttered.

"Well, we're all gonna die."

°°°°

Back at it with another update. I hope you all enjoyed chapter twenty. Please don't tell me to update. I've got a lot on my plate at the moment and will update when I have the time, not when you want me to. I'm gonna be going on hiatus for a while. Anyway, have a good day.