That night, the heating and oxygen was restored in Mecha and Arrow. The doors were re-opened and there was a stronger guard presence to ensure there was no backlash. But there was a distinct anger among the residents for the way they were treated.

A delivery of rations was given to every home on both stations the following morning, making up for those lost. It hadn't taken long either for the truth to spread around the various stations, every single one now growing more suspicious than ever of the Council and their decisions.

She couldn't blame them. She didn't trust them one bit. Abby was an exception and Kane only a little bit. She kind of trusted him by default because Abby trusted him.

But it had felt good to slip back into normality that week with the kids, their classes and general upkeep around the centre.

However, one thing that hadn't slipped back into normality was her visits to Octavia. Jaha had punished her from her outburst by banning her from any official business for the children's centre for an unknown period of time, this ban included acting as representation and official business in lock up.

This meant no visits to Octavia. And Jaha knew that.

Instead, she had sent Gwen in her place a couple of times, but it had killed her not to see the younger Blake. Nora had missed their talks and gossiping ways; it had become a kind of therapy for her too. She had also missed their lessons, which she had carried on from when Bellamy had left off.

But this week, this changed, because her ban of official business had been lifted and she was due to pick back up with her visits to see Octavia. She had missed her friend. With her bag full of books and the display pad in hand, she swiped her badge and stepped into lockup, getting a firm nod from one of the guards.

Word had spread around the guards also about her run in with the council a couple of months ago. She hadn't intended on ripping their decisions apart and shouting at them, it just sorta happened. It was a heat of the moment situation. That didn't mean she regretted it. Hell, she wanted to do it again.

The guard led the way down to Octavia's skybox at the end, unlocking it for her, before sealing her in with the brunette and locking the door behind her.

"I've missed you." Octavia gasped out, over exaggerating her groan as she rose from the floor before pulling the redhead in for a tight hug.

Nora wrapped her arms around the young woman and squeezed her. "I'm so sorry. Gwen came to see you though? She brought the books?"

Octavia nodded, "she told me briefly about what happened, but I don't think she wanted me to worry." Nora rolled her eyes as she dropped onto the bed with Octavia doing the same, folding her legs underneath her. The older woman had thought Gwen would withhold some of the truth about what happened. "So what really happened?"

"The council cut our rations and decided to play God with us." Nora started, retelling the story of what had happened recently with the oxygen and rations, and then telling her about Jupe being ill. "He doesn't know it, but Jupe getting out probably saved us all."

"Is he okay now?"

"Yeah, he's so much better. Abby's got permission for some stronger medicine and he's breathing better every day. Little lungs just can't take what we can. He goes to the med centre like every other day now." She began unpacking her bag of books onto the bed. "Kane and Abby pulled some power to get the doors opened, and I sorta yelled at the council too."

Octavia's eyes widened. "You yelled at Jaha? The Chancellor? Gwen didn't tell me this!"

She smiled sheepishly, "yeah."

"Go Nora!" The woman yelled out with a grin. Nora shook her head at her, firing up the display pad for her notes, scrolling through to find her class notes so they could pick up their lessons since last time. "Can you trust Kane?"

Nora hesitated, giving her a small shrug. "I don't know, I feel like I can, he's done a lot now to help Jupe... Abby trusts him too?"

"I trust Abby." Octavia said with a nod. "So what have we got this week on the lesson plan?"

"Earth skills."

"I already did that yesterday, can we do something else?"

Nora frowned and looked across at Octavia. "What?"

"What about history?"

"No, wait, go back..." She said, closing the earth skills book in her lap. "You said you did that? What does that mean?"

"I had an earth skills lesson with some of the other kids in lock up." She shrugged.

"A lesson? Like in a class?"

"Yeah? There was around 30 of us in there with the teacher."

"What teacher?"

"Pike."

This didn't make sense. "They don't usually do those classes for people in the skybox."

"Oh. We're having them like everyday now."

"When did they start?"

"Last week?"

So for a week they've been having lessons every day about earth skills, like intensive training for prisoners... "that doesn't make sense. What are they teaching you?"

"Lots of things, like how to make a fire, how to build shelters, how to hunt, which knots to tie for different things... I'm not very good at the whole knots thing." She rolled off the list with an eye roll, "I think up next is how to navigate using the stars and what plants are safe to eat and which ones will kill you."

This wasn't right.

"Have they said why they're doing these lessons?"

"No." She shrugged, "The others there were saying it's because they might release a select amount of us back into the Ark and they don't want us to hold up existing classes." It all sounded too rushed for that. "Oh, but Nora you would've been so proud of your little student here." Octavia's voice picked up, a smirk on her lips that mirrored the one on her brothers face. "I aced the how to make a fire lesson."

"You did?!" Nora's own smile took over her face.

"I remembered exactly what you had taught me before and answered everything. Not too bad for a girl who lived under the floor." Her confidence grew tenfold and she winked at the redhead. "Now, history. Please. I don't want to talk about the insides of a deer for another minute!"

Obliging, Nora swapped earth skills for a history book; her mind still half proud that her lessons had made a difference to the woman and also half on why they were cramming lessons in for the prisoners.

No, that could wait. Maybe she could track down Pike and question him? The man had been her teacher previously, she didn't really know if he would remember her? But it was probably worth a try.


The following evening, once most of the kids had settled in for bed, Nora slipped out. She was a woman on a mission and in search of Pike. She had to find out the reason for their daily lessons in lock up, she needed to know what they were planning for those kids. They wouldn't waste resources and time of a teacher like that on what the council had deemed useless delinquents.

She located the rows classrooms on deck and immediately went along each one, peering inside to see if there was anyone in there. But they were all empty and locked.

Continuing along, she scanned the canteens for the man, but still couldn't find him. She didn't know where he lived, so couldn't question him there... That was a dead end. I wonder if Abby knows anything about the lessons? Or maybe Kane?

That idea would have to wait for another day as she took her tired legs back to the childrens centre for another evening. The following morning she would have to be up early to collect their new weeks rations, so she may as well get some rest now.

Unlocking the double doors, she stepped inside the centre and prepared herself to just get into bed but was stopped short at the sight. Bellamy had fallen asleep in the cosy den again, but this time Jimmy was lying beside him, along with two other kids; a book still firmly in the older man's grip. She felt an urge to go over there and crawl into the den with Bellamy. That was her favourite way to fall asleep.

But instead, she bumped into Gwen and one by one, they moved the kids into their correct beds. They left the older man in the den, but Nora reached for one of the blankets to the side, draping it over him.

"Don't fancy joining him?" Gwen's voice whispered over her shoulder. She launched her hand into the woman's shoulder in response. Her yelp made Bellamy groan and turn his face into the pillow. Nora just pointed for the woman to go to her bed.


The rations were reduced for two weeks.

When Nora collected the ration pack the following week she knew the signs that they were reducing them again. But through the grapevine, she heard that they had also been reduced on Factory, Arrow and Farm. It made no sense to their pattern, it was almost like they were saving up rations for a reason, but no one knew.

Last week, the rations were slightly lower, and this week they were lower still. Bellamy had joined in on the meal planning this week with herself and Gwen, while Belle kept the kids busy with the other volunteer. He had brought a bit of humour to the discussion in the midst of the depressing state of their food supplies.

Nora had caught him staring at her with a curious look a few times. She hated that she couldn't read him that well, he often kept his thoughts close to his chest, not giving much away… But she really just wanted to read his mind for just a little bit. Just to find out what he was thinking or get a little snippet…

Or maybe just to find out what he really thought of her.

Ugh, Gwen why did you put these thoughts in my own head? She mentally groaned, shaking her head and pulling her eyes off of Bellamy.

"Breakfast should be the most important meal of the day."

Nora tuned back into the conversation, hearing Bellamy put in his opinion about the meal plan.

"That means more than halving their lunch." Gwen said thoughtfully.

"We can't cut their dinner. What drink rations do we have?"

"Same as we normally should. Flavoured water won't keep them full though."

"It does something though. We could have the water at lunch to fill in for some of the meal that's lost?" Nora suggested.

"That could work." Bellamy agreed, nodding along.

"You know what would work too?" Nora said, giving them both a look.

"No." Gwen said before she could answer herself.

Bellamy just frowned, looking between them. "What?"

"One ration run would be enough for the next couple weeks and you know it."

Gwen shook her head, crossing her arms firmly. "You've had too many close calls now."

"Maybe I just need to do some more surveillance instead of spontaneous runs?"

"Isn't that the same risk still?"

"We'd have more food though." Nora shrugged, reaching for a cup of flavoured water. It was what a large portion of her diet was made up of. She had sacrificed too many of her meals for the kids now. She no longer ate lunch, turning to a big drink instead. Sometimes she went for hot drinks as well, they were another option. But even she was getting hungry now… Gwen too, although the older woman hid it better than her.

Gwen clenched her jaw. "I can't ask you to do it."

"You wouldn't have to."

"Nora." Gwen began, turning to her and reaching for her hand. "If something happened to you because you did a ration run and got caught, I don't know what I would do to myself… You would be floated all because I asked you to steal. No, I can't have it."

"Fine." She rolled her eyes, finishing her drink. "If I decide to do it, then it's on me." She said, staring right at her, squeezing her hand back.

Gwen took a deep breath, nodding. "Yes. But know I don't want you to."

"I know." Nora said quietly. "But I'm hungry, Gwen, and I know you are too." She could feel Bellamy's eyes on them closely, but he didn't speak up. "We can't go on like this. If it means a chance of eating better, then it's a chance I'm willing to take."

The older woman stared at her for the longest of times, "If you do a run, I need you to tell me before. I need to know, okay?" Nora just nodded. "Good." Then she pulled the redhead in close and gave her a tight hug. With tired bodies, they quickly tidied up and organised the rations back into the normal kitchen cupboards.

As Gwen slipped off to her bed in the opposite side of the room, nearer the younger kids, Nora grabbed herself one last half cup of flavoured water and downed it quickly. She noticed Bellamy tidying up from the mess earlier. "You wanna stay here tonight again?" She asked him.

He looked like he considered it for a moment, before shaking his head. "Nah, I'll head back to mine. Got an early shift."

"Okay." Closing the door to the kitchen, she walked over to him, pulling her fleece tighter around her body and shoving her hands in her pockets.

"So when are you gonna do this run?" Bellamy asked, with an eyebrow raise as he threw the last cushion back into the pile and approached her.

She debated the question for a moment; not entirely sure herself when she would strike. "Need to do some recon first. Security's getting tighter with the ration drops."

"Want some help?"

"No."

She didn't miss a beat with her answer. She said it before, she wouldn't want to bring him into this. He had to be there for Octavia if she got out.

"Nora."

"Bellamy." She countered with an eyebrow raise of her own.

"Let me help you."

"No. Not this time."

He smirked at her, crossing his arms over his chest and immediately appearing twice his size. "Does that mean next time you'll let me help?"

Taking a deep breath, she tried to think of what capacity she could put him to use in, but to her, he was just a big risk. She liked him too much to risk his life as well. "I'll consider it."

Rolling his eyes, Bellamy just shook his head and turned for the door. "I'll catch you tomorrow." She nodded, locking the door behind him and then pulling the curtain across. Every gut instinct in her body told her to never involve him in a ration run.


The next afternoon, while the older kids were in class and another volunteer had arrived to help with the younger kids, Nora took off for her first session of recon. For the next few days, she would spend her afternoons, pretending to read outside various stations; all the time hidden perfectly from cameras.

She had meticulously tracked every guard rotation, movement and pattern across various stations, but namely Hydro, Tesla and Farm. Next, was Go-Sci, which was known to be a fairly quieter station, other than the Medbay area.

Farm had proven the hardest to squeeze in a run, but it had the most food supplies because that's where they all came from. Alpha was next up with the most amount of food supplies but there was no way in for her in any capacity. Some kitchen and canteens even had multiple guards now.

Nora had noted that more guards had been placed on other more vulnerable store rooms and kitchens, leaving no time for them unmanned, except for this smaller storeroom on Go-Sci Station. It was, so far, the only station with a weakness.

For the past few days, she had been biting back the feeling of guilt inside her... the fact that she was stealing from another stations storeroom. It wasn't just Alpha this time, it wasn't a wealthy storeroom or station, this was a workers station.

But then she felt the same hunger return to her belly. She had a small meal this morning, halving her already small ration in favour of the kids. She felt weaker. She was always tired. Gwen would tell her she was grumpier too, but Nora would argue that.

She told herself she would share the wealth of food with others after she made sure the kids and her and Gwen were fed, but still the niggling feeling in the bottom of her stomach remained.

Was this the wrong decision? But then not everyone else had had their rations slashed as much as the centre, sure most were on reduced rations, but as always... the centre drew the shortest straw.

Shaking the thoughts away, she refocused on "her book" and the digital display hidden behind it, glowing up with a map of her current position, which she had sketched out. After a solid afternoon of watching a specific door leading to a storeroom, and watching the guard as he roamed the nearby halls around it, she had finally nailed the code to unlock the door.

The redhead had confirmed her thoughts when a store officer stopped by not long ago and typed in the exact code again. Zooming in on the plan she had drawn of Go-Sci and the journey back to Mecha, she mentally mapped out how quickly she could get to safety. It would take her a few minutes; that she was sure of.

Footsteps approaching her position on the window seat made her flick to her centre reports on the display and act as if she was typing up a new report on a prisoner. But as soon as she looked up, she relaxed when she saw his warm brown eyes and floppy hair. "Why the tense look?"

"I'm not tense." She shot back and regretted the bitter tone. Bellamy raised both eyebrows at her in question, crossing his arms over the janitorial uniform, his trolley positioned just behind him. "I'm just reading."

And hungry, just really, really hungry.

"I can see the display."

Nora shot him an unimpressed look. "Say it louder why don't you?"

Pushing her to the side, he made some room for himself on the window ledge, peering back out the gleaming sky, the sunlight reflecting on the tin can they called home. "What are you really doing?" His voice dropped lower and she tilted the display to him, flicking back to her map. "I've been watching the guards movements and patterns for a few days and this Go-Sci storeroom seems like my best bet. Today, I figured out the code for the door after watching all the different people come and go from there."

"You know you could've just asked me for that code?" He asked and she frowned. "It's 79236X. They don't change it."

All Nora could do was glare at him, her eyes immediately narrowing into slits. "You're telling me this now... after I have been scouting different places for days and Go-Sci all afternoon... you're telling me now?"

"Yes?" He hesitantly answered, before shooting her a smile.

"You asshole."

"Now, if you had let me help, then maybe I could've told you this." He said, with a smirk that she just wanted to wipe off.

"Have you been in that storeroom before?" She asked, ignoring his smugness.

"Yep, couple times."

"What's it like? Where are the rations? Is it big?"

Bellamy looked down at the display still in her hands, gently taking it from her. He flicked to a blank screen and began his rough sketch. "If you go in here," He said, drawing her route. "Turn to your left and then right and there's the cupboard you want." She nodded along, mentally trying to picture it. Nora quickly saved the drawing before it was gone. "You know I could always help stand guard."

"No."

"Nora, I'm not involved that way."

"You're an accessory."

"Only if I get caught. My shifts go through here sometimes, I could easily be passing through at that exact time and delay anyone who is coming through or walking past that storeroom."

It wasn't the worst idea. Almost like a bodyguard for her.

He looked so genuine, his eyes almost pleading to let him help her.

"It'll just be peace of mind for you that someone has your back out there. I'll be there looking out for you."

"It's not the worst idea."

"Is that a yes?"

She shrugged, "yeah, let's do it. What day would work for your shift?"

"I'm not due back this way for a few days."

"Ok, we'll work it around then. Can't have you switch a shift and make it obvious."

Bellamy nodded, a big smile on his face. But still, Nora couldn't rid the sinking feeling in her stomach. Surely it made sense, having someone watch her back and help make the operation smoother. So why did she feel like this?

It would be fine, right? She would go in at the correct time. Bellamy would be on lookout. They'd get home with food and there she could redistribute amongst the people who needed it most. It'd work out... right?

A/N: It's fine, right? :) t-minus 1 chapter until we find out how they got to be in the position to get to the ground... any guesses what you think will happen? There's a lot more to come and happen in this next chapter... It's gonna be a long one!