Chapter Thirty Five
Bellamy
"What is this stupid game?" Emori asks.
"I cannot believe you guys have never played this game before! It's so much fun!" Harper says. We all sit back in our various seats around the table. Lately, I have been nothing but bored around here. Echo and I have been getting closer but nothing passes the time anymore. We were supposed to go back down a week ago. And we have nothing. Raven and Emori have been working on it every second but we don't have anything.
"I checked this morning, they still aren't living on the ground yet," I say. "And no one has tried to contact us. What's going on?"
God, I hope everything is okay. My sister should have gotten them all out of there by now. They should be able to live all over the ground. So far our Eden is nothing but a valley and we can't see any signs of movement or life. We have had no contact. When the five year mark hit, it was like every other day. It has been the same since then.
"Come on, let's just forget about all of that right now," Harper says. Monty smiles and puts his arm around her. He hasn't been too disappointed about not being able to get back down to the ground.
"Octavia should have been talking to us by now. I have been waiting five years to talk to my sister, Monty," I say. He looks offended but then leans back in his chair too, looking irritated.
"He was just trying to distract you, Bellamy," Harper says. I nod toward her. I know she is right.
"Sorry. She's the only family I have left and I just don't want to give up on her after a few days, but I don't understand—"
"Hey," Echo says, putting her hand on my shoulder. I look behind me to find her with a sympathetic and honest expression. She squeezes my shoulders and then sits beside me.
"We're your family now," Raven says.
"Right," Echo agrees.
"All of us," Emori says.
I nod. I don't want to tell them that Clarke was my family. I don't want to tell them that she was the one I was talking about. So I stay quiet to avoid the pain.
"Alright, let's just play the game," Murphy says.
"Oh, so you want to play a stupid game but you won't help me when I have oxygenator duty?" Emori asks him. They have been arguing more than they have been agreeing lately. I want to tell them to appreciate their person is alive but I decide not to.
"Emori, let's keep our personal affairs personal, shall we?" he asks.
"Actually, this game is the opposite," Harper says.
"What?" Murphy asks.
"One person says something they have never done and then everyone else has to put a finger down if you have done it. We used to do it with alcohol but since we can't afford getting drunk up here, we'll just do it that way," Harper says with a smile. She almost looks excited. At least someone around here is happy.
"Why are we doing this, again?" I ask.
"Because we need a distraction and it might actually be fun," she says. "We're all worked up over not going down to the ground yet so let's just pretend we don't have to. We should have played this game ages ago. I swear, it's fun."
I try to believe her. She is just trying to make feel better.
"Who wins?" I ask.
"The innocent. It's the person at the end who still has fingers up. People are eliminated until one person remains."
"And what does that person get?" Murphy asks.
"Oh, please, John! Everyone knows you won't win," Emori says with a very small smile.
"Everyone else does their chores for the day," Harper says with a shrug. I shrug too and then sit back.
"Could be fun," I admit.
"I'll go first," Murphy says, sitting at the edge of the table just next to ours. He leans back on his hands.
"Never have I ever killed an innocent," Murphy says.
"Yes, you have!" I say back.
"Name one!" he shouts.
"You killed all those guys when we first got down here! Connor, Miles!" I say.
"Hey!" Harper shouts.
"Those guys weren't innocent! They hung me!" he shouts. "I didn't kill everyone in Mount Weather."
I look to Harper, sniffle and try to hold back the emotion that is pressing on my chest. I put a finger down and then look back to Murphy. I want to tell him off, order him to play this stupid game fairly.
"I did that for good reason," I say.
"I know," he says. "I'm not denying that you didn't. I'm just saying that I didn't do it. It's a game, Bellamy."
I want to ask Emori what is up with him today or why he is being such a jerk again. I decide not to. Monty puts his finger down and then Harper, Emori, Echo and Raven.
I raise my eyebrows at Raven but she just shrugs.
"My turn," I say. "Never have I ever shot one of my friends."
Raven turns around to look at Murphy. He rolls his eyes but puts his finger down. Now everyone has one down, though I am not sure if Raven really should. Echo has two.
"Never have I ever taken the chip," Monty says.
Emori, Echo and Raven.
"Guys, can we make this a little bit more fun?" Harper asks. "I know we're all in bad moods, but it's supposed to be fun."
"Never have I ever got convicted of a crime on the ark," Emori says with a shrug.
A couple of us smile at that at least. That is better than getting each other for criminal reasons.
Harper, Monty, Murphy and me.
"Never have I ever hung someone," Raven says. Harper gives her a look but she just shrugs. I look over my shoulder to Murphy. I watch as he puts his finger down and I do the same. I am not surprised when Echo does the same thing.
"Okay, my turn," Echo says with a grin. "We want to make this fun, right? I say, we make it fun. Never have I ever slept with one of the hundred."
I look to her and give her a grin. Echo shrugs.
"You weren't one of the hundred," she says.
I nod. But I put a finger down.
"Who?" Echo asks.
"It would be easier to ask who he didn't sleep with," Murphy says.
"Whatever. You had your fun too, Murphy," I tell him.
"Clarke," Raven says. "He didn't sleep with Clarke."
"Or me!" Harper says with a smile.
I shake my head. Maybe this game could be fun.
"Well, I didn't sleep with any of the 100," Murphy says. "But I think she got you two." He points to Monty and Harper, who agree but then over to Emori. "Sorry, babe."
She puts her finger down too.
"Never have I ever slept with a grounder," Emori says. I find that strange but a finger down. It only gets Murphy, Echo and I.
"My turn!" Harper says with a smile.
"Looks like Bellamy's not so innocent," Murphy says.
"Never have I ever slept with more than one person in this room," she says, looking around the room.
Raven looks to the ground but I look at her. She doesn't move. She doesn't speak. She doesn't even do anything. No one else puts a finger down. I breathe deeply.
"If we're telling the truth," I say and put a finger down. That's six for me. Everyone looks to me and then the other girls in the room.
"Don't look at me," Harper says. "I already said it wasn't me."
They look to Emori.
She shakes her head.
Raven looks up at the crowd and then puts her finger down.
We get a roar of laughing and surprise from our family. They give us confusion and shake their heads.
"I sense a story attached to that one!" Murphy says. I shrug.
"The first time, I was angry and he was horny," Raven says.
I give her a look but then nod. "Yeah, and the second time it was the other way around."
Everyone roars in laughter.
Maybe this game is fun.
"Alright, alright. That's enough of that," Monty says. "My turn. Never have I ever had sex in the woods."
"What if we were in a tent?" I ask.
"Was the tent in the woods?" he asks.
I nod.
"Put that finger down!" he says.
"Never have I ever kept my love for someone to myself," Harper says with a smile.
I look to her and shake my head. Hoping that no one is looking at me, I put my finger down.
"How about this one? Never have I ever been kicked out of a society," Raven says with a smile. She gets every single person other than herself, which allows us to give her good credit for that one.
"I have one," Murphy says. "Never have I ever had a sister."
Just me.
"I'm out," I say.
I watch as they finish playing. Murphy and Echo are out next. Monty and Harper are pretty equal, followed by Emori and Raven wins. We all have to manage Raven's chores for the rest of the day. But it doesn't matter. It was a few minutes when we were kids again, when we were allowed to be kids again.
I just wish that Clarke was there to be a kid again too.
Scores as of when Bellamy was out:
Harper: 4
Monty: 4
Raven: 3
Murphy: 6
Me: 10
Emori: 4
Echo: 6