“The Council doesn’t execute people for fun.” Wells’s voice shook with fury. “Keeping humanity alive in space required extraordinary measures. Sometimes cruelmeasures.” Wells paused. “But we have a chance to do better.”
“So what?” Graham growled. “You’re just going to give her a slap on the wrist and then make everyone pinky swear not to break the rules?” A few snickers rose up from the crowd.
“No.” Wells shook his head. “You’re right. There needs to be consequences.” He took a deep breath. “We’ll banish them from camp.” His voice was firm, but when he turned to Bellamy, his eyes seemed to contain a strange mixture of anguish and relief.
“Banish?” Graham repeated. “So they can sneak back whenever they want and steal more supplies? That’s bullshit.”
Bellamy opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was drowned out as the buzz of voices grew louder. Finally, a girl Bellamy vaguely recognized from Walden stood up. “That sounds fair,” she called out, shouting to be heard over the crowd, which grew quiet as heads turned to look at her. “As long as they promise never to come back.”
Bellamy tightened his arm around Octavia, who’d gone limp. He nodded. “We’ll leave at sunrise.” He turned to smile at Octavia—this is what he’d planned all along. So then why did he feel more apprehension than relief?
The fire died down, and darkness settled over the camp like a blanket, muffling footsteps and muting voices as shadowy figures disappeared into tents or carried blankets toward the edges of the clearing.
Bel si mufflilamy set up a makeshift cot for Octavia at the short end, near the wreckage of the dropship. They hadn’t said it aloud, but they both knew neither of them wanted to sleep in a tent tonight.
Octavia curled up on her blanket and closed her eyes, though it was clear she wasn’t sleeping. The trip back into the woods with Clarke to retrieve the medicine had been a tense one. No one had spoken, though Bellamy could feel Clarke’s eyes boring into his back as he led the way.
Now he sat next to Octavia, his back against a tree, staring into the darkness. It was hard to wrap his mind around the fact that tomorrow, they would leave forever.
A shape moved through the shadows toward them. Wells. He had Bellamy’s bow slung over his shoulder.
“Hey,” Wells said quietly as Bellamy rose to his feet. “I’m sorry about what happened back there. I know banishment sounds harsh, but I wasn’t sure what else to do.” He sighed. “I really thought Graham was going to convince them to…” He trailed off as his eyes fell on Octavia. “Not that I would’ve let that happen, but there’s only two of us and a lot of them.”
Bellamy felt a smartass retort rise in his throat but swallowed it back down. Wells had done the best thing he could under the circumstances. “Thank you.”
They stared at each other for a moment, then Bellamy cleared his throat. “Listen, I should probably…” He paused. “I’m sorry about your father.” Bellamy took a deep breath and forced himself to meet Wells’s eyes. “I hope he’s okay.”
“Thank you,” Wells said quietly. “I do too.” He fell silent for a moment, but when he spoke again, his voice was firm. “I know you were just trying to protect your sister. I would’ve done the same thing.” He smiled. “I suppose I sort of did. Wells extended his hand. “I hope you and Octavia stay safe out there.”
Bellamy shook his hand and smiled ruefully. “I can’t imagine anything out there worse than Graham. Keep an eye on that kid.”
“Will do.” Wells nodded, then turned around and headed back into the darkness.
Bellamy lowered himself to the blanket and stared out into the clearing. He could just make out the shape of the infirmary tent where Clarke would be giving Thalia the long-awaited medicine. His stomach twisted strangely as he thought back to the scene by the fire, the flames flickering over Clarke’s determined face. He’d never known a girl who was so beautiful and intense at once.
Bellamy leaned back with a sigh and closed his eyes, wondering how long it would take until she stopped being the last person he thought about before he fell asleep.
ʀublishe
ʀublishe
ʀublishe
CHAPTER 26
Clarke
The antibiotics were working. Although it had been less than a few hours since Clarke burst into the tent, clutching the medicine under her arm, Thalia’s fever had already gone down, and she was more alert than she’d been in days.
Clarke lowered herself to perch on the edge of Thalia’s cot as her friend’s eyes fluttered open. “Welcome back,” Clarke said with a grin. “How are you feeling?”
Thalia’s eyes darted around the empty tent, then looked up to meet Clarke’s. “This isn’t heaven, is it?”
Clarke shook her head. “God, I hope not.”
“Good. Because I always assumed there’d be boys there. Boys who didn’t use water rationing as an excuse not to bathe.” Thalia managed a smile. “Did anyone build the first shower on Earth while I was passed out?”
“Nope. You didn’t miss much.”
“Somehow, I find that hard to believe.” Thalia raised her shoulders in an attempt to sit up, but settled back down with a groan. Clarke gently placed a rolled-up blanket behind her. “Thanks,” she muttered and surveyed Clarke for a moment before she spoke again. “Okay, what’s wrong?”
Clarke gave her a bemused smile. “Nothing! I’m just so happy you’re feeling better.”
“Please. You can’t hide anything from me. You know I always manage to get your secrets out of you,” Thalia deadpanned. “You can start by telling me where you found the medicine.”
“Octavia had it,” Clarke explained and quickly filled Thalia in on what had happened. “She and Bellamy are leaving tomorrow,” she finished. “That’s part of the deal Wells made with everyone. I know it sounds crazy, but it really felt like they were close to attacking her.” She shook her head. “If Wells hadn’t stepped in, I’m not sure what would’ve happened.”
Thalia was staring at Clarke with a curious expression on her face.
“What?” Clarke asked.
“Nothing, just—this is the first time I’ve ever heard you say his name without looking like you want to punch a hole through a wall.”
“True,” Clarke admitted with a smile. She supposed her feelings had changed—or at least, were starting to.
“So?”
Clarke began to fiddle with the pill bottles. She hadn’t wanted to tell Thalia about what happened in the woods in case it made Thalia feel guilty—after all, she’d gone out looking for plants to help her and had ended up almost getting killed. “There’s something else I haven’t told you. It didn’t seem important before, when you were so sick, but…” She took a breath and gave Thalia a brief account of Wells rescuing her from the ruin.
“He followed you all the way there?”
Clarke nodded. “The weird thing is, while I was hanging on that ledge, convinced I was going to die, he was the one person I was thinking about. And when he showed up, I wasn’t even angry that he’d followed me. I was just relieved that he’d cared enough to go after me, despite the terrible things I’ve said to him.”
“He loves you. Nothing you do or say can ever change that.”
“I know.” Clarke closed her eyes, though she was afraid of the images that she knew would emerge from the shadows. “Even when we were in Confinement and I told you I wanted to see his organs explode in space, I think there was a part of me that still loved him. And that made the pain even worse.”
Thalia was looking at her with a mixture of pity and understanding. “It’s time to stop punishing yourself, Clarke.”