A somewhat loud giggle erupted throughout the small cabin pulling Bellamy from his sleep.
"What?" he asked sitting up to look at the woman in bed beside him. He yawned and scratched his head while the laughter continued. "What's so funny?"
"The rooster crowed, and it woke me up!" Clarke continued to laugh in between words. Bellamy scoffed and shook his head with a smile. "We have chickens! Like real actual chickens!"
Bellamy laughed at the love of his life's excitement over chickens, and within seconds, each other's laughter made the other laugh harder. They had never heard each other laugh before.
The door to their room swung open wide, and the younger, more grumpy Blake walked in with a confused look.
"What is so funny? We can hear you two laughing from our room! You woke me and Lincoln both up."
"We have chickens!" Bellamy exclaimed with another burst of laughter. Clarke laughed just as hard.
"Yeah, Big Brother," she said slowly. The couple stopped to listen to her, "we've had them for like three weeks now. Did you two eat jobi nuts for breakfast or something?"
"No," Clarke said obviously, "we have chickens!"
"I will never understand you two," Octavia mumbled. She shook her head, and as she turned to walk back to her room, she slammed the door shut behind her.
Bellamy and Clarke looked at each other silently until they burst into one more fit of laughter that quickly turned into small giggles.
Half an hour later, Clarke and Bellamy walked out of their cabin. They looked around at the newly renovated camp. The extension of the walls had been completed much more quickly than what had been anticipated. Eight small cabins had been built by now, and a stable and coop had been built as well.
Clarke and Bellamy agreed that the camp should be more organized now that they had more possessions and more visitors.
The cabins were all built in the rear left corner of the camp. They were organized into three rows, and they planned to add more. By now, most people slept in the cabins, but some opted to stay in the upper level of the drop ship or in tents until more cabins were built. Raven chose to simply stay in her workshop. It wasn't like she ever left it anyway. Octavia, Lincoln, Bellamy and Clarke all shared a cabin, and the remaining seven cabins housed as many as they could.
Across from the living areas and in the rear right corner of the camp, the makeshift stable and chicken coop stood surrounded by a fence that kept the animals inside.
With all of the trees around the camp being cut down, it was easier for those on watch to see who was coming towards the gate.
Guns and rovers were kept along the wall to the right of the gate and were fenced in. One of the next projects that Bellamy was hoping to start soon was a guard tower beside the fence.
The drop ship stood beside the soon-to-be guard tower, and Raven's workshop was tucked back behind the drop ship.
To the left of the gate was what the grounders called the trading post. It was there that the grounders could visit and trade with the Skaikru, and Clarke and Bellamy had a feeling they would have more visitors in the next few weeks, especially with the arrival of the Ark.
Clarke walked over to the drop ship and stood on the ramp like door. The camp had gotten into the habit of meeting every morning to bring everyone up to speed on the days' agenda. Everyone gathered around closely to listen to what she had to say.
"As all of you know, the Ark is expected to come down tomorrow. Several of you will be reunited with your families, friends and loved ones. You all remember the two we lost to the impact when we first landed. It's possible that we may lose some lives tomorrow, and it's possible that some stations may break apart from the Ark. Tomorrow, we'll be sending search parties to the landing sites, but until then, we need to prepare for the dead, the injured and any other survivors. I need volunteers for construction, medical, and agro. We have a lot to prepare for today..
But before we disperse, I want to say one more thing. We have worked so hard to build this camp from the ground up, and by tomorrow, we will have succeeded in what we were sent here to do, saving our people.
We've lost so many lives to be able to stand here today. We've gone through so much to get to where we are, and I cannot be more proud to know you, to call you my friends, my family, even. I am so proud of each and every one of you. You were terrified, but brave. Weak, yet strong.
Whether it was on the Ark or in Mount Weather, we all survived or did horrible things to get here. This is our chance to do more than just survive. This our chance to live. We're no longer living in the skybox or in cages or hiding under floors. This is our chance to thrive!
In the last few months we've been called several things- criminals, delinquents, victims and experiments, but we're more than just that. We are what's left of the hundred and two. We're fighters and survivors.
So tonight, when the sun begins to set, we celebrate a new unity day here on earth. We celebrate the fact that we're alive, and we remember the ones who aren't.
We are the forty six. We are Skaikru!"
As planned, the camp was prepared for those coming down on the Ark. The fire in the center of camp crackled and lit its surroundings. Jasper shared Maya's iPod with Raven, and she found a way to connect it to one of the rovers.
Around the fire, the kids danced happily for the first time since they were on the ark. It was freeing. There was no need to worry about the guard. Octavia and Bellamy didn't have to be in fear. She grabbed Lincoln be the hand and pulled him by the fire to dance with her. This was a concept to which he was quite foreign, but he gave in for Octavia.
Clarke remained on her and Bellamy's bed in their cabin. She smiled as she sketched a picture of herself as a child with her father. The party hat rested lopsided on her head in the drawing. It was pink as she recalled.
She was eighteen today. Today, her life should have ended. Today, she would've been floated on the Ark.
Bellamy burst through the door suddenly, startling Clarke. She placed her papers beside her.
"Clarke, why aren't you out there?"
"I just felt like staying in tonight. Besides, I can't really drink Monty's moonshine," she answered, gesturing to her swollen belly.
"It doesn't mean you can't go out."
"I know, but I'm happy just watching them be happy from the window. What are you doing here?
"Looking for you. C'mon, put your shoes on."
"Bell, I really don't feel like going out by the fire tonight."
"I know. That's why we're going somewhere else."
"Where?"
"It's a surprise. Don't ruin it," Bellamy said with a smile. She laughed.
"Fine. I can't exactly bend down to tie my boots. Help me get my shoes on?"
"Always."
Clarke turned her body to the edge of the bed, and Bellamy got down on one knee to put her boots on her. He stood up and pulled her up by her hand and kissed her.
"Now, let's go before we miss it!"
"Miss what?" she giggled.
"You'll see," he said as they walked out their front door. He turned around to face the two grounders outside of their cabin. "You guys don't have to follow."
"Bell, they're just following Lexa's orders."
"Fine," he huffed.
They walked to the front of the camp, and Bellamy helped her into the passenger seat of the rover. He shut the door, and Clarke looked in the mirror and watched as he spoke with Raven at the back of the rover.
Before she knew it, they were in the rover driving to the secret spot, as Bellamy called it.
"Okay. Put this on," Bellamy said as he handed her a black piece of fabric, "We're almost there."
Clarke gave him an odd look before tying the blindfold behind her head.
"Got it."
"Good. No peaking."
"I'm not, Bellamy. Where are we going?"
"I know. I'm just really excited. You'll see."
"I'll see why you're excited, or where we're going?" She said grinning. She did have to see to know there was an annoyed look on his face. He laughed.
"You're unreal. We're here, but you still can't look," Bellamy said as he put the rover in park and shut the engine off.
"I won't."
"Good. Sit tight," He leaned over to kiss her forehead and exited the rover.
Clarke sat there in darkness wondering what he had planned. She could hear him rummaging throughout the back of the rover. The five minutes that felt like forever passed before Bellamy opened her door to help her down.
"Bellamy, what is this?" Clarke questioned. Her voice was filled with excitement and curiosity.
He ignored her question and instead, continued to guide her forward. When they stopped, he stepped behind her to untie the blindfold.
"You ready?"
"Yes," she said with a small laugh.
"Okay, you can look now."
She opened her eyes as she felt his arms wrap around her. His head leaned over her shoulder as he held her.
"Bellamy," she struggled to find the words to say, "it's beautiful!"