The first thing I notice when I become conscious is the throbbing pain in the back of my head. It takes me a while before I remember that someone hit me, knocking me out. The second thing I notice is the fact that my hands are tied behind my back. I groan, moving my sore neck from side to side.
"Finally, the princess is awake." I open my eyes to see Bellamy's face inches from mine. I narrow my eyes.
"Bellamy, what is this?" I growl, tugging at my restraints. Bellamy rolls his eyes.
"Guess." He says with a shrug. I close my eyes in frustration.
"I don't know." He laughs.
"You don't know why I kidnapped the chancellor's daughter?" I flinch as Bellamy taps my forehead. "Why don't you use that big head of yours and think about it." I open my eyes.
"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, big guy, but my mom doesn't care about me. She sent me down here, which also means that there isn't much you can do to her." I glare at him, confident that I have foiled his plans.
"Oh but Princess, that's where you come in." I clench my jaw at the nickname Bellamy has given me.
"I told you, she doesn't care about me." I look down, trying not show how much it hurts me.
"Well, you're wrong." Bellamy stands up, stretching. "A few hours ago, while you were still napping, we received our first message from the Ark." I stare at him. The radio works! He doesn't see my surprised face. "And what is the first thing we hear from our home that we were just kicked out of? The chancellor. She was frantic. 'Clarke? Clarke can you hear me? Clarke, answer me.'" My face reddens. As much as I hate my mother, I can't stand people mocking and insulting her.
"What did you say in response?" I ask, trying to sound calm.
"I told her I killed you." My eyes widen and I try to break free. Bellamy laughs at my reaction.
"Calm down, no one has said anything yet. Maybe silence will make them think we're all dead." I scoff at this reasoning.
"You do know they can monitor each of us with our bracelets, right?"
"About that." Bellamy holds up his bare wrist. That's when I realize that the only thing rubbing against my wrists are the rope binding them together. I curse silently.
"How many?" I mutter angrily. The fact that my mom probably thinks I'm dead sinks in slowly.
"Twenty four and counting." Bellamy smiles cockily. I groan.
"You're an idiot, you know that? You're killing us all." Before Bellamy can respond Finn climbs the ladder into the second level of the drop ship. He's holding a big black box. The radio.
"The chancellor is talking again." Finn reports, bringing the radio to Bellamy. It crackles.
"Come on, Clarke. I can't lose you too." I'm shocked at how desperate my mom sounds. I realize I need to say something.
"Mom! Mom, can you hear me?" I yell, hoping the radio will catch my voice. Bellamy and Finn laugh.
"Nice try, Princess." Bellamy crouches in front of me again, this time with the radio. "You see this red button? I need to be pressing it in order for anyone on the Ark to hear your screams, and that's not going to happen. Not yet, anyways." I glare at him, and before he moves away I spit in his face. He yells, jumping away from me. Finn runs over, slapping me in the face.
"Bitch! What'd you do that for, huh?" I roll my eyes, wincing at the stinging pain. Bellamy grabs Finn's arm, pulling him away.
"Hey, Finn no. She's not worth it." Bellamy looks at me. "I'm gonna get some food. Keep an eye on her."
Finn takes a seat across from me. I glare at him and he glares back. I begin to form a plan.
"I need to go to the bathroom." I smile sweetly as Finn's eyes widen. He quickly masks his panic.
"Okay, fine." Finn gets up and unties me from the chair, keeping my hands tied. He takes me outside, roughly pushing me every time I stop to look around. He leads me behind a bush, untying my hands and stepping back expectantly. I almost laugh.
"You're kidding me, right? I'm not going in front of you!" Finn crosses his arms.
"Well, I'm not leaving you alone." He takes a step forward menacingly.
"I don't expect you to." I respond. "Can you at least get a girl to watch me?" Finn thinks about it, then nods. As soon as he disappears I make a run for it. Immediately I almost fall because of the pain in my head. I definitely have a concussion. I regain my balance and continue running, not sure where I'm going. Suddenly I hit something hard and fall back onto my butt. Thinking I've hit a tree, I look up. Bellamy is glaring down at me with his arms crossed.
"Where do you think you're going?" I scramble to my feet, but before I can turn and run Bellamy grabs my hair, pulling me back. "Why are your hands untied? Collins!" He drags me back to the drop ship. I try to make eye contact with someone for help, but no one is daring to look at me. Finn runs over as Bellamy shoves me up the ladder. I hear them below me.
"What the hell, Collins?"
"She needed to go to the bathroom! I didn't want to leave her alone, so I went to find a girl."
"And by doing that you left her alone, idiot." Bellamy sighs loudly. "Find me John Murphy." I hear Finn run out as Bellamy climbs the ladder. He grabs my arm, pinning me against the wall.
"Come on, Bellamy." I plead as he ties my hands. "You don't have to do this. I can help you!" He scoffs.
"How, by floating us all? I don't think so." I struggle as Bellamy pushes me in a chair, tying my arms and legs to it. I hear footsteps and look up to see Finn and another boy climbing the ladder.
"There you are." Bellamy says as he finishes tying the final knot. "Murphy, you're my new second. Collins, I need you to gather a hunting party. Our people are getting hungry." Finn looks like he wants to protest, but he only nods and descends again. I look at Murphy. He looks scarier than Finn. He catches me eyeing him.
"What are you looking at, Princess?" That nickname seems to have stuck. Murphy takes a step towards me, but Bellamy stops him.
"Don't let her get to you." I smirk, knowing it's that easy. Bellamy grabs the radio, then gives it to Murphy. "I need you to talk to the Ark." Murphy looks at him.
"Me? Why can't you do it?" Bellamy runs his hand through his hair in frustration.
"Because I am a wanted man up there. I asked you to do this because I thought I could trust you. Am I wrong?" Murphy shakes his head. "Good. Try to get them on your side." Bellamy suggests as Murphy brings the radio closer to him, pressing the red button.
"H-hello?" Murphy suddenly sounds innocent and scared. "Is anyone there?" We all seem to be holding our breath in anticipation. The radio begins to crackle.
"Hello? This is Chancellor Abigail Griffin. Who am I speaking to?" My heart begins to beat faster at the sound of her voice. Bellamy smiles, his plan working.
"This is John Murphy." Murphy makes his voice waver.
"Murphy? But we lost signals on your bracelet. We thought you were dead." This is the voice of Sinclair, the head engineer.
"Uh… I guess it broke somehow. The past few days have been pretty rough." Bellamy nods at Murphy in approval.
"Murphy, you said your bracelet is not working but you're fine." This is my mom speaking again, and I know what she is about to say. "Is Clarke Griffin…?" Murphy looks at Bellamy who shakes his head.
"I'm sorry Chancellor, but Clarke is dead." Before Murphy can say anymore I respond quickly myself.
"Mom! Mom, I'm right here! I'm fine, mom. I'm okay!" Bellamy clamps his hand over my mouth before I can say anymore, but I know it's too late. He grabs the radio from Murphy.
"Clarke? I thought you were dead." I hear a sob escape the radio. I try to say something but Murphy comes over with a piece of cloth, gagging me.
"Chancellor Griffin, this is Bellamy Blake. Your daughter is fine, but she won't be if you do exactly as I say." I glare at Murphy, who has his hand on my shoulder in warning.
"Bellamy Blake." My mom's voice becomes cold. "So that's where you are. Thelonious Jaha is dead because of you." I gasp into my gag. Thelonious, the past chancellor and my godfather, is dead. I look at Bellamy with a newfound hatred, but he looks down, almost ashamed.
"I know, and I'm sorry. But I had to find a way down here." They seem to have forgotten about me. I let out a muffled yell, successfully drawing the attention back to me.
"Chancellor Griffin–"
"Blake, if you lay a hand on my daughter, I swear I will kill you myself." I almost smile. That's the most affection she has showed towards me in more than a year. Bellamy shakes his head.
"The thing is, Chancellor, you're in no position to make threats. We are hundreds of thousands of miles away from each other, and I have your daughter." Bellamy looks almost relaxed. God, I want to punch him in the face. I want to tell my mom that I'm okay.
"What do you want?" I can imagine her angry face now. I've seen it a lot.
"I want to be pardoned of all charges, and I want you to send supplies down to earth, but no other people." He's crazy. Bellamy Blake is crazy.
"You know I can't do that, Blake. You killed someone. And besides, we need to send people down if the earth is survivable. The Ark isn't going to last much longer." Bellamy shakes his head sadly, but I know he's only pretending to be sad. He looks at Murphy, who nods. Murphy takes my gag off, and before I can realize what he's doing he stabs my arm. I scream, first in pain and then in frustration for having the reaction they wanted.
"Clarke!" My mother's voice wavers through the radio.
"I warned you, Chancellor." Bellamy says. "The earth may be survivable for us, but I can't say the same for your daughter." I hear heavy breathing on the other side.
"Fine, I'll get you what you want." I can feel tears behind my eyes.
"Mom, no! You can't do that!" Murphy presses his hand into my wound, and I scream through clenched teeth.
"Thank you for your cooperation." Bellamy mocks. "You have ensured your daughters safety for at least one more month." I stare at him. One more month? He can't decide my fate like this. He turns the radio off, silencing my mom's pleas to leave me alone.
"You're being more help than I thought." Bellamy says, crouching before me. I'm sweating, trying to ignore the pain in my arm. Before I can spit in his face again we hear yelling outside. It gets louder until a bunch of people burst into the drop ship. Finn pops his head through the hatch to our level.
"Incoming." Finn says quickly, before ducking out of sight. Three boys come up the ladder, two carrying the third, who has part of a spear in his stomach. I gasp.
"Jasper Jordan." One of the boys says, gesturing to the unconscious one. I recognize the other boy, Monty Green. He's the son and apprentice of the medic on the Ark, Hannah Green. I hope he can save Jasper.
"What did this to him?" I ask, trying to get a good look at him from where I'm tied up.
"Not what, who." Finn says, climbing up the ladder. Bellamy walks to him.
"What are you talking about, Finn?" Bellamy asks quietly, but we all hear him. Everyone who has just joined us looks terrified. Monty is the first to speak up.
"The grounders did it. We're not alone down here."