Chapter 1
"Stop pushing!"
"Open the door!"
"No, don't open the door!
"Oh, shut up!"
"Okay," Bellamy bellowed in his deep voice. The kids in the dropship became silent. "I'll open the door."
"No, don't!" a blond girl said, making her way through the people. "The air might be toxic."
"If the air is toxic," Bellamy said, "we're dead anyway. We can't stay in here." He pressed the button and the pressurized door hissed opened. Bellamy and the others froze, waiting for pain and radiation burns on their skin. But none came. He took a deep breath and smiled. They were on the ground. He was the first one to come out of his daze and stepped out of the dropship on a leafy floor. Never in his life had he felt a softer ground. His boots sunk into the leaves. Around them, green trees and a blue sky and birds singing and insects rattling their wings. So many new noises and smells. But what surprised him the most was the light. The sun blinded him and the others through the trees.
The others pushed past him and jumped on the ground, dancing and singing and screaming joyfully. They weren't dead!
At least no yet, Bellamy thought.
A scream – from a voice he knew all too well – came out from the dropship, and he darted back inside.
"Jane!" he called out. She continued groaning and moaning. He climbed the ladder to the 2th floor and found her still strapped to her seat, clutching her huge belly. He fell on his knees in front of her. "Jane, are you okay?"
"Get me out of this thing," she hissed. Bellamy quickly obeyed, untying her seat belt and helping her stand up. But Jane bent in two, holding her belly, grunting in pain.
"What's wrong?" he asked, holding her up.
"My water broke during the fall," she said, imploring with her eyes for any help he could give her.
Bellamy's lips formed an 'O'. His instincts kicked in, he carried her down the steps and lay her down on the floor of the Ship.
"Is anyone a doctor, here?" he called out over the camp of crazy, happy teenagers.
The blond girl who didn't want him to open the door came running. "My mom is a doctor. What happened?"
"Are you a doctor?"
She rolled her eyes. "I've shadowed her long enough. What happened?" she asked again.
"Jane's water broke. What's your name?" he asked her.
"Clarke. You mean there's a pregnant kid with us?"
Bellamy's features darkened. "Can you help her or not?"
"Yes, I can." She headed into the camp and gave a couple orders to some kids she knew before entering the ship. Jane was lying down on the floor, sweating and crying each time a contraction came and seized her muscles.
"What did you tell them?" Bellamy asked.
She sighed and took the situation in. "I asked three of them to go look for water, and two girls are going to help me."
"What can I do?" Bellamy asked.
"You're not staying here. You're going outside."
"But I'm the father," he said.
"I guessed as much. But I can't have two people to look after. Go outside and I'll call you when it's done."
He stared at her long and hard. Jane screamed again.
"Go," Clarke admonished.
Bellamy nodded and started to walk away. Then he came back and held her wrist. "Whatever happens," he whispered with a lot of intensity, "you save Jane. Not the baby."
Clarke nodded.
"No!" Jane said. "You save the baby!"
Bellamy and Clarke both looked at Jane who was sweating and gritting her teeth in pain. But then Clarke looked at Bellamy and nodded to his demand, not Jane's. Jane was in pain and not in a state to make a clear decision.
Bellamy walked away when two girls came in to help Clark – Harper and Fox, he would learn later on – and stepped among the dancing teenagers. Some of them were even playing tag.
A boy, came running to the dropship, and Bellamy stopped him. "You're not going in there, Wells."
"But I can help," he said. "Clarke's my best friend and-"
"No, Wells!" Clarke called out from inside the dropship. "I'm not your best friend and I don't need your help! But if you want to help, go with Monty, Jasper and Finn to find water. I'll need lots of it."
Wells' shoulders slumped and he walked away to join the three boys on water mission. Bellamy paced up and down around the dropship. Jane screamed and groaned and hissed in pain. He wished he could be with her, holding her hand. It was his fault she was in this situation. Kind of. But it takes two to make a baby.
"Here, wanna help take out the fallen trees from the middle of the way?" a boy with long hair split in the middle said.
"Why? And who are you?"
"Murphy. John." He chuckled. "Look, you need to leave her have that baby. It's doing you no good. Do something to kill the time."
Bellamy looked one last time at the dropship. Jane was still screaming. He could hear Clarke and Harper saying either soothing words, or urging her to push when the contractions were at their highest point.
"Yeah, I'll come." He took a deep breath and followed Murphy and the others. In a matter of a couple hours, they had cleared fifty square meters of terrain in front of the drop ship.
Bellamy called everyone to him. "Listen to me, we need to build tents before dark. Then we can do whatever the hell we want!"
"Whatever the hell we want!" the entire camp echoed.
"The parachutes should be enough to build tents for the night. Get to work. Miller and Atom, build a fire in the center. You four," he pointed to four boys he thought were the strongest in the group, "we need food for tonight. You're on the hunting squad." He paused. "Once all that is done, we can do whatever the hell we want!" he yelled again, and the camp echoed it back. "Now go to work," he barked.
Might as well take things in hand. I'm the oldest, here. I'll be in charge, Bellamy thought to himself. A cry from Jane snapped him back to reality. Why was it taking so long? He walked up to the dropship, but then stopped and went back to the camp. Then back again to the dropship. But Clarke had told him to stay away.
Still, he needed to know. He stood in the entrance. "How's is going?" he asked softly.
"Bell!" Jane cried and his heart broke. He ran to her and kneeled on the ground next to her. Her cheeks were covered in salty tears, and she seemed exhausted. She couldn't hold his hand with much strength.
"Clarke, why is it taking so long?" he asked. "It's been hours."
Clarke didn't meet his eyes. "I don't know. The contractions are only minutes apart, the neck of the womb is widely open, and she pushes all she can, but the baby won't come," she whispered back. Then finally she met his eyes. And Bellamy fought all he could not to show fear. Fear of losing the girl of his dreams. Fear of losing his baby, whatever he had said before.
He breathed in sharply. "Do whatever it takes to save her," he ordered.
Clarke stood and took Bellamy away from Jane's earshot, out of the dropship, but where she could still keep an eye on her. "I don't have the material to extract the baby, even if I wanted to."
Bellamy crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Jane losing more and more strength. He couldn't bear to lose her. "What about a C-section?" he whispered.
Clarke's eyes widened. "She could die. I don't have any anesthetic. Or a clean knife. I can't do that."
Bellamy looked at Jane again, and his heart went out to her. "Do it," he told Clarke, handing him his pocket knife. "And don't you dare let her die."
Clarke took the knife in his hands, looked at Bellamy, and nodded. "I can't promise you anything," she said softly. "But I'll do my best to save Jane."
Bellamy nodded and walked away. He knew he needed to be with her, but he also knew he had one hundred kids to look after. Even if they all did whatever the hell they wanted.