Two things crossed my mind as my body collided into the river, a stinging pain exploded in my left side while the rushing water of the dam forcefully shoved me further beneath the surface; I miraculously survived the jump, despite landing a bit rough when I couldn't draw my left arm to my side in time, and I didn't know how to find my way back to the dropship from here.

Miller and I only planned my escape from Mount Weather. That was it. Neither of us knew how to find the way back to our people considering we never explored these parts of the woods before. Clarke once showed a rough draft of a map of the area, but I hardly remember any of it. I solely had my instinct, memory, and luck on my side to wander back to the dropship. I was ultimately on my own out here,

The temperature of the water grew colder the further I sunk, sharply pricking my skin like a million tiny knives. A numbness crept over my body as the water enveloped around me, wrapped around my frame like a cocoon as if it were a second skin until the only thing I felt was the increasing burning in my lungs, desperate for a breath of air. The surface of the river grew distant, shining heavenly beneath the bright sunlight.

My eyes drifted shut as I allowed my weighted limbs to cease movement and float carelessly in the water, momentarily losing all of my strength to swim to the top. The impact affected my body more than I had prepared for. The added weight of the boots and the difficult landing was all it took to send a strong wave of disorientation through my body after I collided into the ice cold water with a deafening smack, losing sense of everything as I sunk to the bottom.

I feebly shook my head in an attempt to clear the bewilderment locked in my mind. Exhaustion overtook my entire body.

"Princess..."

I snapped my eyes snapped open, shocked by the softness of Bellamy's voice echoing between my ears, swiftly realizing I couldn't give in to the temptation of exhaustion. My people were out there-- Bellamy was out there-- and I refused to rest until I found all of them. No one would get left behind. I wouldn't allow it.

A strong ache and burning sensation raced through my limbs as I willed myself to push through the icy water, fighting against the urge to give up and sink to the bottom. My eyes struggled to stay open. I sharply inhaled once I broke through the surface, immediately greeted with a pleasant warmth from the sunlight and sounds of nature surrounding me in every direction. The rushing water of the dam thundered behind me.

Droplets of water clung to my skin, trailing down my face and weighing down on my eyelashes partially blurring my vision. I slicked back my hair with one hand to remove the small strands that stuck to my cheeks and forehead. My chest erratically rose and fell as I worked to bring breaths of fresh air into my lungs. I risked sinking a bit to reach over my shoulder, checking to make sure the sword remained secure on my back.

As I fought to keep my body afloat, the throbbing pain in my head mixed with the sharp pang in my left arm unfortunately made it much harder to keep my head above water. A bruise was sure to form in a few hours from the rough landing. The strong current instantly took control of my body and pulled me down through the river into calmer waters. I strived to keep my head afloat without accidentally sucking in mouthfuls of water as I reminded myself of Bellamy and the rest of my people I needed to find.

The toes of my boots eventually dragged across the floor of the river. A gasp of relief emitted from my lips once the water became shallow as I drifted further away from the rushing water of the dam. The struggle to stay afloat disappeared the second I was capable of standing on my own. My body weighed down by the wetness of my clothes and boots as I walked toward the shoreline, shoulders hunched over until I collapsed on the small rocks and pebbles, drained of all energy.

Small pebbles stuck to my face as I laid face down on the ground, breathing heavily and coughing up any water left in my throat. My heart rate accelerated as if my heart was bound to burst out of my chest if I didn't give myself time to relax for a couple of moments.

Time was limited now. My choice to leave Mount Weather put myself out in the open with Grounders roaming around on their own free will. I needed to find my friends and, most importantly, find Bellamy before any Grounders could accidentally find me. My heart raced faster for a whole different reason at the thought of reuniting with him. A warm blush coated my cheeks. I shook my head at the thoughts as I weakly pushed myself on elbows, slowly clambering to my feet, grimacing at the pain in my forearm.

I exhaled through my mouth, grinding my teeth to stop myself from gasping out in pain. The pulsing in my head increased the moment I stood up straight and wobbled on my own feet, feeling heavier from the added weight of the water soaked through my new clothes. My pain and exhaustion were the last of my concern. My people were out there and that's all I cared about.

I gently touched the sides of my head, tapping over the hair Harper braided, surprised they remained in nearly perfect condition from being tied together so tightly. The corner of my lips rose upward as I stood on the edge of the trees, feeling a familiar sense of nostalgia and relief about being back in the wilderness instead of trapped in the walls of Mount Weather. This was more of a home to me, not quite where I truly belonged, but I was getting closer to that destination.

With a quick look over my shoulder, I peered up at the dam far behind me before I took a deep breath and stepped into the woods, determined to find my way back to the dropship.

Sweat dribbled down my temples and the back of my neck until it absorbed into the collar of my nearly dry shirt. A thin layer of sweat covered every inch of my body underneath the several layers of clothing. I removed the khaki jacket from my shoulders after the two hour mark of hiking through the woods, securely tied it around my waist in case I needed to suddenly burst into a run.

The problem with aimlessly wandering through the woods was I truly had no idea where I was going, simply hoping I would stumble across something that looked familiar. Anything that could lead me back to the dropship. The woods were quite vast which, unfortunately, explained how I managed to wander in circles a couple times until I noticed and corrected myself to the best of my ability.

I kept one hand latched around the strap of the sheath, prepared to reach back for the sword if a Grounder appeared. The girl who originally landed in the dropship with the other delinquents was long gone after forced to survive in the wild and constantly be hunted by Grounders. The once fear of getting blood on my hands was shoved to the back of my mind, coming to terms with the fact if I wanted to live, death was inevitable for some. It was never my first option, but there's times where you must either kill or be killed.

The heavenly sound of running water reached my ears as I trekked through a bunch of bushes. I stopped in mid-step to abruptly spin in a tight circle, ignoring the small twigs scrapping at my jeans. I willed my ears to listen carefully for where the water was nearby. I sharply turned left after a few seconds, stepping over broken branches and fallen trees until I saw a clear shot of a stream through the leaves.

The dryness in my throat from hours of walking without water increased with every step I took closer to the small stream. Small rocks dug into my jeans when I dropped to my knees at the stream's edge and leaned forward with cupped hands for the cool, refreshing water. The water washed over my dirty hands until they were clean for the first time in hours before I brought them to my lips. I chugged the water in seconds, immediately going back for a few more rounds, grateful to relieve my throat from its dry spell.

According to the sun's position, based on what I learned while being down on Earth, it was a little after midday, meaning the sun would begin to set in approximately less than eight hours, give or take that my guess was correct. I feared wandering the woods without a torch or a place to seek shelter after nightfall. Exhaustion still reigned over my body from jumping into the dam and I knew I could only fight it for a certain amount of time before I needed to sleep.

I shifted into a crouched position as I splashed cold water on my face in an attempt to wake myself up. My neck craned around on my shoulders and peered around the area surrounding the stream, silently debating if I should follow the hill downhill or continue back on the pathway I was on before I stumbled upon the water.

A tree near the water's edge on the other side of the stream caught my eye. Familiar markings were sliced into the lighter bark. My eyes narrowed on the tree, recognizing the initials even from a slight distance. I wasted zero time stomping through the shallow stream until I stood in front of the tree with my fingertips gently grazing over the four, familiar letters.

"Jasper..." I breathed in shock, smiling to myself.

The two letters "JJ" were roughly sketched into the bark with my own initials marked underneath. Tears blurred my vision as I softly laughed at our initials, remembering how the two of us decided to carve our initials into a few trees during our first hunt together for food with a couple of other people. Bellamy told us to stay close and, instead of us hunting for food, we decided to mark our initials down in a few trees.

My head snapped to the right, gazing down the stream. This was the third tree we marked during that day before Bellamy yelled at us to rejoin the group and return back to camp. My legs carried me down the stream, recalling the path our group took that day. We walked a fair amount until we arrived back to camp, but I remembered how we got there and that was enough for me right now. 

XXXX

Oh, hey there, you lovely people. I promised an update this week for this story and I am here to deliver. It's not a crazy long chapter or anything, but it is something. I needed her to be on her own for a couple hours before something happens aka the next chapter. It's like a six hour walk from Mount Weather to the dropship, so she covered most of that in this chapter. 

I'm excited for the next chapter. It will have some action in it and she'll be running into someone instead of being on her own again. 

I hope you guys liked this chapter. I hope you like the next one as well. I'm busy this weekend and won't be able to write, but I will do my best to work on the next chapter soon. I won't make you wait as long again.

Question: Who do you think she runs into next chapter?

So, yeah!