As always, please read and review! Let me know if you have any advice or ideas that you think might benefit the story! I'm having a blast writing this and I hope you're enjoying!
"I wasn't sure what size you are." Abby said as she plopped a pile of clothes on the table in front of Lina. "But I'm sure we can find something if none of these fit."
"Thank you." Lina yawned and began digging through the clothes for something that promised warmth. She had decided when she had woken that although she did not hate the Sky People, she did not necessarily like or trust them. She did not want to be their friend or their prisoner. She did not want to learn their ways or become one of their group. She wanted to go home. But for the moment, she didn't have a choice but to play nice.
"I'll bring you over to the dining room after you change. You must be starving." Abby turned her back to Lina as she pulled on a pair of jeans, a sports bra, and a gray long sleeved shirt. In reality, she wasn't the least bit hungry. Her stomach had been in a knot since she first woke up in Camp Jaha, and the very thought of food made her queasy.
"Will I have to sleep here again?" she asked as she stretched her sore back. The hard table was by far the worst 'bed' she had ever slept on.
"No, Kane is working on sleeping arrangements for you." Abby was hiding something and Lina pushed her for more information.
"Do you guys have actual rooms or just tents?" she pressed, thinking of what the camp must look like on the outside. She imagined a large open area filled with shabby looking tents.
"Tents for the most part." She smiled briefly. "Lina I have to warn you that many of our people are not thrilled with the idea of you being here." She paused as though she was contemplating whether she should continue. "Kane and I are worried about your safety." She admitted.
"Is Kane the man who was here yesterday?" she asked, trying to get all of the names and faces straight. Abby nodded. "So what's his plan?"
"He wants to put you with a guard."
"Like a babysitter." Lina pulled her lips into a narrow line.
"It's just until tempers cool down." Abby pushed pass the sliding doors beckoning for Lina to follow. "We'll have another cot brought to his tent. And you'll be close enough to Kane for him to get to you in a hurry if he needs to." At this point, Lina wasn't sure if Abby was trying to convince Lina that it would be safe or herself.
"So I'm staying with Kane?" She felt uncomfortable with the idea, but even more uncomfortable with the idea that people might actually try to hurt her.
"No." Abby cast a sideways glance in Lina's direction as they walked down the long cement hallway. "Kane is the chancellor, he already has too much on his plate." She paused in front of a huge hole that had been blown through the wall. They had hung a black plastic tarp over the opening to act as a door. "Unfortunately, not many of our guards are on board with Kane's protection detail. Bellamy was the only one to um… volunteer."
Lina furrowed her brows together in thought. Why did Abby seem so concerned with what guard babysat her? If this Bellamy guy was willing to do the job then what did it matter that no one else was?
"Wait." Lina was suddenly frowning at the thought that had come to her mind. "The guy who had been in the Mount Weather uniform last night, that's Bellamy isn't it?" Aby nodded slowly and opened her mouth to say something, but Lina beat her to it. "Absolutely not." She folded her arms over her chest in defiance. "No way am I getting within ten feet of that asshole."
"Bellamy Blake is a good guard, one of the best we have." She reached her arm out to push open the tarp. "And the only one willing to be within ten feet of you."
The light that shone through the opening was brilliant and welcoming. It lured her out of the building and into the open air of an Earth that she had only imagined. Outside, people seemed to be scattered around chaotically. The tents were strewn across a long narrow opening between the side of the building and the wire fence. Upon further scrutiny, Lina realized that the building was not a building after all. It was a ship. She recalled the stories that Jasper had recited for them and she was disappointed that the spaceship wasn't bigger.
She looked around at the camp the Sky People had built, her eyes darting in every direction unsure of what to focus on first. A few people had stopped to stare in her direction, but moved on after a sharp gaze from Abby. In the distance the tall trees danced in the wind. Leaves of brown and golden shades fell to the ground to cover the grass. Inside the camp, the ground was down trodden and she had a feeling it was slick and muddy from hundreds of pairs of boots stomping over it. The sky above looked as though it had been created with a paintbrush. The blue so lively and clear that her eyes couldn't be torn away, not even when she heard a deep voice speak behind her.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" She recognized Kane's voice instantly so she didn't need to turn around. "I know you must have dreamed about what it would look like on the ground your whole life." He said, stepping beside her and raising his chin in the air to see the heavens as she did. "I dreamed about it too." Grudgingly, her eyes pulled away from the sky and fluttered to him.
"Am I a prisoner, or can I leave your camp?" she asked seriously. If she were to walk through those gates, where would she go? She had no idea how to get home. She had no idea how to survive in the world on her own. But the idea that she had the freedom to try was for reason extremely important to her.
"You wouldn't last four hours on your own out there." He met her eyes. "But if you chose to leave, I wouldn't stop you." Lina knew in that moment that Kane was sincere. She didn't have much to go on, but she could feel it in her gut. He had turned his face back up to the cloudless blue sky.
"I'm not going to leave." She whispered, letting her eyes wander over to the woods once more. In her peripherals Lina watched the corner of his mouth pull up in a small smile.
"I know."
"I don't like the idea of having a guard, especially someone like Bellamy, following me around." She crossed her arms and turned her body to fully face him. His smile widened.
"I know."
The "dining room" as Abby had referred to it, was nothing more than a few makeshift tables set up under an overhang outside the ship. Most tables were occupied and she followed Abby through the crowd to a half empty one around the outside. All eyes turned to her as they walked, but she did her best to ignore them. The food Abby brought her was a tasteless, colorless patty which had the consistency of cardboard. But she shoveled it into her mouth nonetheless. They did not speak while they ate, but Lina could hear a few muttered comments from nearby tables.
"Kane." A strong voice penetrated their silence from behind her. She looked over her shoulder to find the large form of Bellamy Blake in her line of vision. "I need to talk to you." He seemed even more hostile than he had the day before. When he cast his eyes down at her, a shudder of fear ran up her spine.
"Have a seat Mr. Blake." Kane said as he took another bite of his cardboard patty. Bellamy shifted his weight from one foot to another, clearly uncomfortable.
"Sir." He said with a pointed look at Kane. Getting the hint, Kane rose from his seat and walked off with Bellamy. Lina scrunched her face in dislike as she watched their backs.
"He's not that bad." Abby said with a smile. "He's just… going through some stuff."
Like watching your entire family die while you sit there totally hopeless. The thought never made it past her lips. When they were finished eating, Abby led her back into the medical wing of the ship. She was adamant about running tests to find out exactly how Lina was able to survive the radiation. She dressed herself into a paper gown like the one she had woken up in yesterday and played the part of the good patient.
It took nearly three hours before Abby was satisfied, but the results wouldn't be in for a few more hours. Lina had just slipped the shirt back over her head when Kane and Bellamy walked through the door. She couldn't help but noticed the way Abby straightened her back and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. The frown on Bellamy's face made the corners of her mouth curl up in a smirk. Whatever was making him so unhappy, she liked it.
"Marcelina," Kane said her name with a small smile "I need to speak with Abby in private." He gave Bellamy a meaningful look but kept his words directed towards her. "Bellamy is going to show you where you'll be sleeping