My Allegiance
Chapter 7
We march through the camp's gate. Half of us are out of breath from running most of the way back. Murphy's lovely face is right there to greet us when we step foot into camp. "Who are these girls?" he asks, looking at me with stern eyes.
"They came down on the pod, looking to play hero," I say dryly. "Wells, hurry up and take them to see Monty before I change my mind," I growl. The bad feeling I have has only gotten worse as we became closer and closer to camp. Both Wells and Finn lead the girls to the drop ship without a single word to anyone.
"Where the hell are they going, Alice?" Murphy asks in a serious tone, his eyes filled with anger.
"To try and contact the Ark." I swear everyone in camp stops moving and all eyes are now locked on me.
"What?" Bellamy steps away from one of the tents. He must have only gotten back a short while ago, he looks exhausted.
"The Ark is running out of air," I announce over the quiet camp. "That's why we were sent down here, to save them some time. But their time is running out, and they are going to kill off three hundred people if we don't tell them that we're still alive." There really was no easy way to tell everyone, so I just blurted it out. People start asking questions left, right, and center.
"How do you know this?"
"What was on the pod?"
"Are we going to contact them?"
"How can we contact them?"
"Get back to work!" Bellamy yells. "We will give you more information when we have some." He marches up to me, "You have some explaining to do." He says so quietly that I can barely hear him. He grabs my arm, pulling me towards the Drop Ship - people only stare at us with shocked faces. "You went out there. After I told you not to," he says as soon as we entered the drop ship.
"Yeah I did," I say, yanking my arm from his grip and retreat by taking two large steps away from him. "I couldn't just sit around here all day waiting for you." He shakes his head in disagreement, but moves onto more current events.
"What the hell was that you said out there. Contact the Ark?!" I didn't flinch at the bite to his words.
"I'm not for it, but-" he cuts me off with a dry laugh.
"Then why not put a stop to it?"
"Three hundred people will die, and more if they can't fix the problem. Those that are privileged won't be the ones that are losing their lives. No, they will be the workers- your people!" We glare at one another for a tense moment until my name is shouted from the leader on the far side of the room.
"Alice," Wells repeats slightly quieter when his eyes land on me. "Monty needs your help."
"I'm no good with tech stuff," I say to him, the anger dropping from my face.
"He doesn't need your brain, just your wrist band. Come on," he urges, already climbing back up the ladder. I move to the ladder and up to the next floor, well aware that Bell is right behind me.
It surprises me to see the amount of people are crammed into the Drop Ship's small room. Not only Wells, Finn, Raven, Cassie, and of course Monty - but also Bree, Jasper, Charlotte, and most surprisingly Octavia. I don't understand what all of these people are doing here until I see the small stack of wrist bands laying on the ground next to Monty. These were the last people wearing there bands; the last things transmitting back to the Ark. I move to stand in the space in front of Monty.
"What's happening?" I ask, looking down at Monty. He sits on the floor with the gadget thing he showed Wells and I yesterday.
"If I can get the radio connected with the signal on a wrist band, I won't need to hook it up to the drop ship. I released it this morning, it will be quicker, but it frayed out the other bands, I made some adjustments so it should work now... hopefully," Monty doesn't seem too sure about his words.
"And mine is the last band left," I say looking at the metal wrapped around my wrist.
"Yeah," Monty says looking up at me.
"Well lets get this over and done with then," I say with a regretful sigh as I lower my self to the ground, but before I can fully sit down in front of Monty, Bellamy is pulling me back to my feet by my injured arm.
"Bellamy!" I shout as pain explodes throughout my arm. I scurry away from him as large tears build up at the edge of my eyes. I almost forgot about the cut on my upper arm, but I also haven't been doing much to strain that arm. The pain had faded to a dull throb, but it now feels as bad as it did when Murphy's knife first hit my skin. "Get out of here!"
"No, you can't-"
"Bellamy? Bellamy Blake?" Raven asks, cutting Bellamy's protest off. "They've been looking everywhere for you," she says stepping forward.
"Looking for him, why?" Wells asks looking at Bellamy with disapproving eyes.
"He shoot your old man," Raven says looking across the room at Wells.
"The chancellor is dead?" Bree exclaims as Wells face seems to drain of all colour and his jaw drops open.
"No," Raven says.
"He's- he's not dead?" Wells stutters.
"He's fine," Cassie insures.
"What?" Bellamy asks, eyes wide and alert.
"You're a lousy shoot," Raven says stepping between Bellamy and I. "Can we hurry this up?" She asks facing me. I lower my self back to the ground, my arm still hurting. I hold my hand out to Monty. He looks at my wrist band for a moment before grabbing one of the small hand tools beside him. I see Bellamy leave out of the corner of my eye.
"Please tell me he's not the one in charge here," Raven says once it can be assumed that Bellamy is out of earshot.
"He just likes to think he is, but people are looking at Alice as the true leader," Bree says.
"I wouldn't take you as the leader type." Raven waits a moment before adding, "No offense."
"None taken. It wasn't really my first job choice. Stuff just kind of happened..."
...
I walk out of the Drop Ship, rubbing my now bare wrist. Bellamy is sitting on the ramp/ door of the drop ship. He's sending a death glare to the part of wall in front of him. I sit down next to him, but he doesn't look at me.
"Monty managed to get it off without breaking it, but when he connected it with the transmitter it fried out. Raven is working with Monty now, trying to get the ship itself transmitting, but... that could take a day or two, to get working... What did you do with the radio on Raven's ship?"
"I got rid of it, that was the plan," he hisses, teeth clenched and bared angrily.
"That was the plan, when the Ark was still liveable. Now they're dying up there and we can save them."
"You can't save everyone!" he yells, his eyes snapping to mine. People in camp turn in our direction, questioning looks on there faces.
"Three hundred people will be floated to save some extra time for the Ark, so they can fix the air, but even more people will be getting floated if they can't fix the Ark." I turn away from Bellamy to spare a glance at the people who are watching us. "Some of you probably don't care, they locked us up! But the one responsible for locking us up will be the last to go! First to go will be the hard working people! You may have never spoken to any of them, or they may even be your parents! I'm not trying to save everyone, just the ones that deserve to be saved!" I say over the murmurings of camp. No one looks sure on how to react. After several long moments Mbege walks forward.
"They just have to know we're here right?" He asks.
"I guess so, yeah."
"Well I got an idea then."
...
I crawl into bed, thinking about the flares we sent off into the night sky. Mbege came up with the idea and Raven made it happen. We spent the entire afternoon tearing apart the small drop pod, and collecting rocket fuel for the flares. Now that they've all been fired, it's just a waiting game. All we can do now it hope that the Ark can see them, and in enough time to stop the mass execution.
I'm almost asleep when Bellamy comes into the tent. I wait for him to get into bed, but after a few long moments I roll over - wondering why I don't hear any more movement. Bellamy stands in front of the tent door, staring straight at me. I sit up with a huff of breath and brush hair away from my face.
"What?" I ask tiredly.
"I can't find Octavia." His voice sounds small, scared.
"Bell-" I sigh, believing he's just over reacting. Before I can speak he starts ranting.
"No Alice I can't find her anywhere. I've checked the tents and the drop ship; I can't find her," his voice is higher now than before, not out of anger, but fear.
"Okay, I'll help you find her. It's going to be okay Bell," I say while getting out of bed and throwing my boots on. "Go do a lap around the wall, make sure she isn't just sitting somewhere by herself. I'll go recheck the tents and ask anyone if they've seen her."
"Okay," he nods as we exit the tent. "And Alice," he adds, "I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know," I say - sparing a moment to stare into his dark eyes before turning my back and walking away.
I check tent after tent, but don't find Octavia in any of them. When I find someone still awake I ask if they have seen her, but each person gives me the same answer, "No."
...
"Hey everyone, gather around and grab a weapon. My sister's been out there alone for twelve hours, arm up. I'm not coming back without her."
We turned the camp upside down, but we still caught no sight of Octavia. Now Bellamy is taking a search party to look for her. I would rather not leave camp at nighttime, but I know there will be no stopping him until his sister is found. People step forward to grab weapons. Not all of camp is awake, but many of our scouts have been woken up to join the search.
"Is it even worth my time telling you you're not coming?" Bellamy asks me.
"I would just follow you anyways." I smile halfheartedly.
"Fine. Can you go find Finn, tell him we'll be needing his help. In the meantime, I'll go tell Wells that he's in charge while we're gone."
I walk away from Bellamy once he's finished speaking, headed towards the tent that Finn has claimed. I wonder for a second whether I should knock before entering before realising there's no door to knock on. "Hey Finn, you in there?" I ask through the tent flap.
"Yeah come in," Finn calls. I pull back the tent's flap and take a step into the tent. It seems Raven isn't a fan of Finns long hair. She stands behind him, a sharp peace of metal in her hand, and a devilish smirk on her lips as she chops away at his hair.
"What do you need Alice?" Finn asks, not moving his head to look at me, only flicking his eyes in my direction.
"Oh, I need a lot of things, but at the moment I'm looking for a tracker."
"I'll be done with him in a minute, then I'll send him out," Raven says.
"Okay, just don't be long," I say before exiting the tent. Bree is right in front of me before I can take another two steps from the tent.
"We need to talk," she says while grabbing my arm and dragging me away into the shadows.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Carrie knows and she let it slip in front of Wells," she blurts out and I struggle to understand what she means.
"What does she know?" I question, sounding stupid.
"She knows you, she made a comment that she couldn't believe someone like you could be in charge." I feel the blood drain from my face.
"She knows who I am..." I sigh.
"I told her and Wells not to tell anyone, bringing up what you did back then won't help anyone." I hear what she says, but at the same time my eyes are scouring the crowd. Bellamy is standing by the Drop Ship, caught up in a hushed conversation with Wells. I can't help but think they're talking about me. Bree must have seen me staring at them, because she adds, "He's not going to say anything. He understand that there's no point in telling people now. Everything is going to be fine." Bellamy turns away from Wells, his face ridged.
"Guys, guys come here." A males voice calls through the crowd, people move to see what he seems so excited about.
"What is that?"
"Wow," a few people say.
"It's so bright."
"Did you see that?"
"Look up there."
I move away from Bree and the shadows. People are staring up at the sky, so I follow there gazes. It looks like hundreds of little stars shooting throughout the night sky; it's mesmerising.
"It didn't work, they didn't see the flares," Raven says stepping by me.
"A media shower tells you that?" Bellamy asks her from a few meters away.
"It's not a media shower it's a funeral," Wells says solemnly. "Hundreds of bodies being returned to the earth from the Ark. This is just what being floated looks like from the ground." Guilt weighs my heart down as I watch the lights that are brightening the sky. How could something so beautiful be made out of death?
I look at Raven and say, "Do whatever you have to do to reach the Ark, three hundred won't be enough." Before she can respond I start addressing the camp. "We can't help them, but we can help one of our own! Octavia is missing, but we can find her, so let's move out!" I say loudly as I walk through the camp to the front gate.
…
The sun has started to rise. After we left camp last night we found signs that Octavia had been taken by the grounders. Some people turned back as the rest of us followed Bellamy and Finn. We have passed land marks that look to have been made by the grounders to ward people away, but we have passed the warnings and now... now we're running.
Grounders are everywhere: Behind us, in front of us, and even above us. We've lost Octavia's trail, but at the moment that isn't our concern. They killed Mbege first, his body fell from high in the trees his throat cut before any of us could even notice him missing. Then Diggs tripped a wire and got slammed in the chest by a metal pipe. Now Roma's dead body is staked into a large tree by a precisely thrown spear.
My heart is drumming in my chest and my ears are ringing. Voices are yelling and we all see grounders start to close in on us. Now that we're about to die, I think about all the cowards that turned back to camp and wish I had done the same.
Just as the grounders are close enough to throw their weapons, a horn sounds. The grounders stop, share a look then turn around and runaway from us.
"That horn, what does it mean?" Jasper asks.
"Acid fog," Finn says pulling something from his backpack.
"We have to run," Zoe says, looking at Finn as he shakes his head.
"There's no time."
...
So looks like that horn was a false alarm, and it looks like I just spent the better half of an hour squished in a tarp with four other people. Bellamy was the first on his feet once it was clear there was no fog. It looks like the grounders are still in hiding from the supposed fog... well all but one that is. The lone grounder pays us no mind as he moves farther and farther away.
"I think he's alone," Jasper whispers.
"Can we run now?" Zoe asks.
"He mustn't have seen us," I hiss to the others as we all watch the dark figure move in the opposite direction of us.
"I'm going after him," Bellamy says in a low tone.
"Oh yeah, then what? Kill him?" Finn questions, sounding very against the idea.
"No, catch him. Make him tell me where Octavia is... then kill him," Bellamy responds before he starts to follow after the grounder.
"How do we know he's not leading us into another trap?" Jasper asks.
"We don't," Finn says, shaking his head in disagreement as he starts to follow Bellamy's lead.
"Well it's as good a day as any to die, right?" I sigh.
"I guess," Jasper muses with a faint smile.
...
We follow the grounder to the rocky entrance of an under ground cave. The sun is still high in the sky, but the entrance is dark; there's no telling whether the grounder is right in front of us - possibly just waiting to kill every last one of us.
"Alice and Zoe, watch the entrance. Boys, your with me," Bellamy says to Finn and Jasper, before they enter the cave, weapons in hand - the three of them disappear into darkness. There's a long silence then the sound of chains rattling, and then the sound of dead weight hitting the ground.
"Keep watch," I tell Zoe before dashing down into the cave, almost slipping on the rocky flooring. The entrance is only a few meters long in pitch blackness, but then it opens up into a larger room. It is dully lit from breaks in the ceiling that let sun light seep through. I almost run into Jasper as I enter in such a hurry, fearing the worst. But my fears disappear as I see Bellamy hugging his sister on the other side of the room, and the grounder lying unconscious on the ground.
Octavia pulls away from her brother, her eyes glassy with tears of relief. She smiles at Jasper, limping towards him and asking, " How did you find me?" She pulls the boy into a hug right after.
"Followed him," Jasper answers, referring to the grounder. He hugs her with a slight chuckle, and a large smile on his face.
"We should go now, before he wakes up," Octavia says, partially out of breath as she hops away from Jasper.
"He's not gonna wake up," Bellamy says coldly, grabbing a spear that was leaning against the cave wall.
"Bellamy stop, he didn't hurt me, lets just go," Octavia pleads, but her brother continues to walks towards the grounder, ready to kill.
"You can't just kill someone for no reason, Bellamy," I say, stepping between him and the defenceless man.
"They started this," he says. "Move out of the way Alice."
"No," I say. I turn to look down at the grounder, and something hanging around his neck catches my eye. Even though Bellamy protests, I lean down to get a closer look. I lift up the object that caught my attention. "It's a fog horn, he-"
The grounder moves so fast I don't even see him draw the knife. I just gasp for air as the blade is stabbed into my chest. I fall back from the grounder, short of breath. I can't focus on anything else as the pain rips through me. Out of instinct I try to pull the knife out, but someone holds my hands back.
"Stop that's my brother!" I hear Octavia yell, and the hands holding mine squeeze tightly. There's a bang, followed by a clang.
As shock starts to lock my body down I hear Bellamy's voice, "No, no, no! Alice!" As my eyes roll back in my head. And my last thought is how I never told Bellamy who I really was.
#Ha bet you didn't see that one coming. "Alice" got stabbed, hehehe. Don't worry she's going to live, how could I write the story without the main character... wait isn't that what people say about Clarke, joking I'm not going to kill "Alice" off just yet...#
#Thanks for all the support! Please if you have read this far and havn't alredy, go follow and favorite this story!#
#Hope you liked this chapter, it was my least favourite so far but my beta says it's her favourite. Please leave a comment tell me which chapter is your favourite! Mine is chapter one#
#Sorry this chapter was late but time has just been flying by and I got a little stuck on this chapter that's why I skipped over the making of the flares because I just couldn't write it and make it different from the original, and worth while. I've already got 1000+ words done on the next chapter, but it will at lest take me a month to get it sounding right. And you should find out what "Alice" did to get locked up and her real name in the next chapter.#
#Have a nice day / night, and as always thanks for reading#
