Page 42 (1/2)

It had only been an hour since Clarke had relieved Felix and taken his place at the lookout point But eachdown on her, heavier and heavier Cooper should’ve been back by now It shouldn’t have taken the whole day for him to talk to the raiders

She didn’t want to think about the possibility, but

Clarke stretched as best she could, without creeping too far out of position, trying to wring the thick worry out of her li She would just have to wait and hope

A twig cracked behind her Clarke glanced quickly back There was no one there She took a deep breath, trying to quiet her racing heart She wasn’t doing anyone any good by waiting here It would o look for Cooper, in case he needed backup Whatever that e of the forest that bordered the fortress, wondering whether to ignore the prickle on the back of her neck Bellas like that, and his instincts turned out to be right But Clarke wasn’t like that Her whole life had been about learning to trust her brain instead of her heart That’s what they’d taught her during herThat’s what her parents had irueso picture" and the "larger good," even when her gut was shouting sohter as she approached the edge of the forest, and the trees cast long, strange shadows in the ed, the silhouette of a person Clarke’s breath caught in her chest and she froze, unsure whether to dash for a tree or stay perfectly still

She waited She didn’t breathe

The figure didn’tso fast, she was sure whoever was out there could hear Still the figure didn’t move But whoever it was had to have spotted her There was no point in trying to hide

"Cooper," she called hoarsely "Is that you?" Once the echo of her voice faded, there was only silence

Slowly, she walked forward "Cooper?" she tried again "Are you okay?"

As she moved closer, Clarke realized that it wasn’t Cooper It wasn’t anyone, really She squinted, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her But, no… she could see it clearly--the loose clothes stuffed with straw, the crude hu she’d once read about

Nor pre-Cataclysm artifacts filled her with excite They were too far from any crops for this to be a new scarecrow, and there was no way an old one could’ve survived the Cataclysm

A few meters away, Clarke froze No… she blinked… it had to be a trick of the light

"No," she breathed "No, please"

It wasn’t a scarecrow Not entirely Because, while the loose clothes were indeed filled with straw, the head wasn’t ht

It was a real human head

Cooper’s

Clarke screa up into the trees, sending two birds flapping aildly "Help!" she shouted "Someone, please, help!" And then before she knehat she was doing, a naasped, her head spinning, but then her initial wave of terror and revulsion receded, and her training kicked in She staggered forward, steeling herself for what awaited Cooper’s head had been severed and placed on a spike, on which someone had also affixed the body of a scarecrow--straw stuffed into Cooper’s clothes

His face was round and bloated, his skin a sto blue But the blood near the neck stem was still wet This had happened recently Clarke scanned the shadows for signs of moveruesoasp