10. You Are Not Alone
The next morning Bellamy was quick to make preparations for him, Charlotte and Clarke (a.k.a the Princess) to go outside the fences of the camp. He had planned it carefully, they were going to leave together with the hunters and keep some distance with them, but they would be close enough just in case he needed back up. Despite the fact that Princess had been very determined on where they were going to go and how she wouldn't try anything foolish, that didn't mean he was going to take his chances in case she did.
After he had made the arrangements with the others he then began heading towards the drop ship and towards the medical bay. He wanted to check in on his sister, who for once acted accordingly to his demands, as well picking up Charlotte for their trip. He didn't trust on leaving Charlotte alone for the rest of the night after what had happened in the cell, since both Charlotte and the princess was pretty shook up about it, so he had asked for Octavia's help to keep an eye on her for the night. It seemed to have worked nicely enough, but when he entered the room he was taken back on how his sister and the little girl was chatting away about the princess like she was indeed the princess of the Earth or something. He didn't like it how the princess didn't do much to get them to like her, possibly even respect her, considering how she was an enemy and with no clear motives about what she was doing. Nothing gave him or anyone else a reason to trust her, but yet she had managed to warm the hearts of two of his people with ease. This awakened a certain fear in him, how this girl could easily overpower and overthrow his authority if he wasn't careful.
"Ready to go?" Bellamy asked, while trying to keep his concerns to himself. Octavia turned to look at him with a skeptical gaze. She saw right through him, no wonder since they had grown up together, but that didn't mean he wanted her to know what was going on with him. There were certain things that she couldn't know about, how he managed to get himself on the drop ship in the first place as well as why in due time he needed to get away and run before the Ark coming down.
"Yeah," Charlotte nodded with an excited grin until she remembered the reason behind the trip. Her face fell and she grew worried and sort of gloomy over what could happen. "Do you know what she is going to do?"
"No," Bellamy replied. "But I will promise you that I won't let anything happen to you."
Charlotte responded with a short nod before she began putting on her jacket and packed her backpack, meanwhile Bellamy strode over to Octavia who was still looking at him with skepticism.
"So what happened that made you change your mind about allowing Clarke out of her cell?" Octavia asked, though her voice gave him the impression that she knew exactly the reason why. He shrugged his shoulders and mumbled an unintelligent answer and tried to keep his cool. However Octavia didn't take his answer as good enough and her brow rose with suspicious question and said, "Really, that's your grand reason why you would suddenly change your mind and allow a stranger to punish Charlotte. Man, bro, if you keep this up then you are never going to get married."
Bellamy had to chuckle at that last remark. Marriages on the Ark was just practical motion between two people, rarely done out of love for each other, and was just a formal way to live together in the same unit and to be allowed to have children or the correct term to have a child. He didn't want to live his life like that and because of that he was determined about not getting married. Besides it wasn't like love, marriage and children was a priority back on the Ark. The idea of it all was even less of a priority here on the ground, especially when you compared the selections with criminals who were seriously crazy or who were not bright at all. If he ever thought he was going to be tied down by someone, then he wanted it to be a woman who was his equal. Someone who didn't feel the constant need to have him around, unable to do anything for themselves, but at the same time would know she needed him and loved him for him. But that was just wishful thinking, like there was a woman out there who could stand to be around him long enough to care and long enough to actually feel something like strongly for him.
"Calm down, O," Bellamy said with smirk. "The marriage ship had pretty much sailed away on my end, but let's hope there is still a chance for you."
Octavia groaned and mumbled something about feeling bad for the female population. He only chuckled over her response, though there was a part of him that didn't really want his sister to belong to another man since then she would have no reason to stay around with him any more. And that thought was just scary and lonely to even think about, so he quickly dropped subject.
"Bell, just promise me something," Octavia said tiredly. Bellamy tilted his head and looked at her in wonder. "Please don't kill Clarke. I know that after everything she has done up until now is very suspicious and give you no reason to trust her, but she is my first female friend and I care about her a lot. I also believe she possesses something that might be good for us, something useful that can help us survive here. Only if people are willing to trust her and allow her help, but again it is up to you and the others what you want to do."
Bellamy didn't answer or promise his little sister's request; in fear how she might react if he possibly had to break that promise in order to keep everyone safe, but also because he was still not sure if the princess was even worth his time.
Clarke was sincerely happy to be outside again and not locked up in a cell that only reminded her of her short time in the Sky Box. However she would be even happier if she didn't have to walk through the camp and everyone was looking at her like she was a freak. The teenagers were whispering between themselves, she only managed to catch few things, but apparently no one had made the connection about her former affiliation with the Ark despite knowing her first name. It wasn't hard to figure out that Octavia must have told Bellamy and the name began to quickly spread around camp, but she wasn't angry with her for doing so. Octavia did what she had to do and besides Clarke didn't want her to get in even more trouble than what she was already in. So she didn't mind that the rest of the camp knew her name as long as they didn't connect the dots, everything was fine. Anonymity was a truly blessing for her and probably an annoyance for everyone else, including Bellamy, but it was necessary in order to keep herself alive. As she thought this as she passed another small group of teens, but stopped for a second when she saw the guy who tried to assaulted her before, standing behind them and had this expression that made her feel very uncomfortable. Their eyes met for a second, but she quickly broke the connection and hurried off to Charlotte's side. Bellamy who was walking behind her followed after her in quick strides and had this questionable expression on his face, but didn't say anything just kept quiet and allowed her and Charlotte to talk happily with each other. Without any interruptions, the three of them along with a group of hunters left the campsite and ventured into the forest.
The kept on walking for awhile, the hunters had long discarded to go and hunt some food, but Clarke knew they weren't far behind to step in just in case she really did try to escape. Besides it didn't come as a shock to her that Bellamy had taken precautions before he allowed her outside the gates.
"Are we going in the right direction?" Charlotte asked. She had taken the lead and was walking a few feet away, while Clarke and Bellamy was walking next to each other looking anywhere but directly on the person next to them. Clarke gave sad smile and nodded, something that caught Bellamy's attention since he asked shortly after, "Where are we going anyways?"
"To see a friend," Clarke replied curtly. She knew her answer could be interpreted the wrong way and people would make the assumption that she was going to cause trouble, which proved to be right in this situation since Bellamy stopped walking and pulled her arm. Unfortunately it was the arm she had hurt last night and could still feel the throbbing pain whenever her arm touched something or in this case when someone yanked on it.
"What do you mean?" Bellamy said angrily. Clarke flinched by his touch, but didn't try to struggle out of his grip.
"Relax, my friend is pretty much harmless and can't do anything to hurt you or Charlotte," Clarke said wearily.
"That doesn't comfort me at all, princess," Bellamy sneered. "Now tell me where we are going or less I will kill you right here, right now."
Clarke sighed deeply. Octavia's brother was quite an impulsive hothead, but she also saw the protectiveness that gave him great leadership skills. He would think of others before himself, so despite having an attitude of an ass she knew that she would want someone like him having her back whenever she needed it.
"What I mean is that my friend can't hurt anyone because he is dead," Clarke said sadly. "We are going to visit his grave, which is not that far now, so please can we keep on moving?"
Bellamy stared at her for second before his grip her arm dropped and they began walking again, but this time in awkward silence.
It didn't make any sense why he felt guilty. He had jumped to the most obvious conclusion when the princess told him about visiting her friend, he had not expected her to show him and Charlotte a grave not far from a river where the water had a slight reddish color in it. There was no tombstone or anything lucrative except for a small patch of yellow flowers. However it seemed more tranquil and nice compared to how things were done at the Ark, where people was only floated into space and with nothing left for people to grieve over like his mother.
"This is where my best friend is resting," Clarke said softly. She squatted in front of the grave and simply stared at the yellow flowers gently. "He is probably glad that someone else is visiting him other than me for once."
Charlotte remained quiet and only stared at the grave with worried and sad eyes. Bellamy did the same, more out of politeness than respect for this dead person he didn't know.
"When did he die?" Bellamy asked quietly. "And also how did he die?"
"He died a year ago. No, that's wrong he was killed a year ago," Clarke sighed. "It was during a grounder attack. He and I were by the river, gathering seaweed when out of nowhere we were ambushed. My friend sacrificed his life to save mine…"
Bellamy didn't know what to say, neither apologizing or comfort her seemed oddly enough wrong in this setting, but he slowly starting to realize why she had brought Charlotte here.
"Do you understand, Charlotte?" Clarke asked. She turned to look at the girl with this gentle yet sad smile on her face. "Human lives are precious, so it is wrong to kill just to make yourself feel better. You will regret it and carry the guilt with you, the same way I still regret how I couldn't save my best friend's life."
Though Clarke spoke directly to Charlotte, he couldn't help but notice that she was also conveying the same message to him. How it was wrong of him to hurt the grounder the way he did and that the bloody image in his mind would always stay there. Clarke stood up and pulled the girl into a reassuring hug and then continued saying quietly, "The point in this visit is for you to remember to remember my friend, how he cared enough about me to give his life away for mine, and who faced his biggest fear. He feared the lost of my life, and though he was terrified of dying and leaving me alone, he faced his fear because he treasured and loved me enough. What I'm trying to say is that being brave doesn't mean being fearless, it mean being afraid and faces them anyway."
"I'm afraid of dying," Charlotte confessed. She explained how she had watched her parents get floated in front of her, leaving her alone and terrified. Bellamy understood her fear because he too had the same fear, but he always pushed his fears back and never did anything about it.
"But you know, you are not alone, Charlotte," Clarke explained. "You have people who shares the same fear as you do. You have Bellamy, Octavia and the other kids at camp, so you are not alone in this world."
Charlotte nodded and tears began running down her face. Then she suddenly threw her arms around Clarke's neck and sobbed behind her back. Clarke calmed her down and hummed a soft melody that made even him calm inside.
After a while Charlotte fell asleep after her emotional breakdown, and he took her in his arms before he and Clarke began walking back to the camp. They didn't say anything, but he couldn't stop thinking about everything that had just happened. However he was most curious about the blond princess who seemed even more mysterious than before and made him almost determined to figure her out. The way she spoke about her friend and about the grounders made it seem like she and her dead friend were outsiders, based on how they had been ambushed by the grounders, but that didn't make any sense. Why would they kill one of their own?
He was just about to ask her when the sound of a horn resonated through out the forest, the princess turned in the direction of where the sound was coming from before her entire body language screamed fear.
"We need go leave now!" the princess exclaimed. Then she began running and he followed after her like a fool, but whatever that horn meant it caused the princess fear and disturbance. "There isn't enough time for us to get back to the camp…we need to find safety in somewhere else. There is a bunker not far from here. Come on!"
"What is happening? What does that sound mean?" Bellamy asked or rather yelled as they pushed up a speed. They were seriously running from their lives, but what exactly were they running from?
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Thanks again for the great response I have been receiving. I hope I managed to build some questions and some understanding between Clarke and Bellamy, but I will work on it further in the next chapters.
Anyways I hope you guys like the chapter. And please continue giving me reviews, favorite and/or followings. And I will update the story as soon as I can.
xXrebelgirl07Xx
