Ch 8 Bellamy after the Mountain.
Bellamy extended his hand to the tall dark skinned man in the center of the group. Monty Senior introduced him as Councillor Jordan. He was wearing a long flowing coat over his Ark clothes which must have been a gift of the grounders. His face was a huge smile that reached all the way to his eyes and infused his entire being. "I am so pleased to meet you Councillor Blake." He said with a twinkle in his eye that betrayed the fact that the idea of Bellamy as a Councillor amused him. "I must say I couldn't believe it when Mr Monty told me who you were." Bellamy just stood and shook his hand firmly maintaining eye contact. "Jaha pardoned me personally you know?" He asserted firmly, wanting to get that cleared up straight away. Councillor Jordan chuckled, "Indeed, I was even more surprised to discover that Jaha was with your camp. I had thought he'd made the ultimate sacrifice to save his people." Wick coughed behind him and Bellamy looked at his group. They were tired from days of hard travelling and Wick looked as if he was about to fall down. "Perhaps we could share stories over something to eat?" He suggested. The councillor agreed and asked them all to join him in the largest tent once they were ready. He sent two people to show them where to put their tents.
He'd just finished unrolling his bed and was looking at it longingly when Octavia popped into his tent. She flopped down onto the bed forcing him to sit on the floor. "So what do you think?" She asked. " I think" he said cooly "that you are lying on my bed." Octavia sat up cross legged and looked at him earnestly. "Bellamy! Come on. Sky people and grounders living in peace. That's pretty amazing right?" Bellamy just shrugged cynically. It was all too good to be true. "Let's go eat. Is Lincoln coming?" Octavia shook her head. "No. He figured he would be able to gather more info talking to the locals. He was a spy you know, it's kind of what he does." A big smile spread across Bellamy's face and he couldn't resist. "True, but you know how easily he is distracted by a pretty face, don't you think you should keep an eye on him." Octavia shot him a steely glare, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You brother, are not nearly as funny as you think you are. Come on." With that she was up and leading the way out of the tent.
As they moved through the camp people were sitting around fires, starting their evening meals. It was a small group maybe twenty people a mixture of grounders and Arkers, none that Bellamy recognized. They stopped at the tent where they'd left the Bob's. Wick was sitting outside looking green. He stood as they approached and Bellamy put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "Are you okay?" he asked concerned. Wick had a haunted look in his eye. "In school I had a choice, Engineering or Medical." He shook is head. "I would have made a lousy doctor." Bill stuck his head through the tent flap at the sound of their voices and came out to join them. "You did fine Wick," he said patting Wick's back. "Not good with blood" he exaggeratedly mouthed to the Blakes. "Mother and child are going to be fine, but it is good that we got here when we did. She lost a lot of blood. The medicine they were bringing helps with the clotting and.." He noticed Wick's complexion pale further and mouthed "other stuff." As he made a gesture with his hands around his abdomen which made absolutely no sense to Bellamy. "Are you coming to eat?" Bellamy asked, but Bill declined saying he needed to get Ben back to bed to lie down.' Then he disappeared back into the tent.
When they ducked into the large tent in the center of the camp it was not what Bellamy expected. He's imagined the Arabian Nights, with rich opulent fabrics, fat cushions and a feast fit for royalty. Foolish. Inside the ground was bare and a brazier had been sent up beneath a hole in the center. Part of the tent had clearly been set aside for sleeping and there was a privacy curtain of sorts erected. There was a table with benches either side and at either end two sturdy chairs. Councillor Jordan was standing close to the fire talking to a mature woman. Her face was serious and clearly this was not small talk. From her well made clothes with just that little bit more ornament than normal, to the complicated braid hanging down her back, to the way she carried herself, it was clear she was the leader here. Her face was still serious as she turned to them. At a quick gesture of her fingers and food was laid upon the table. "Come, sit." She beckoned, a polite smile lightening her expression. "We have much to discuss." Bellamy walked to the table and was suddenly paralyzed by indecision. Should he sit first, or wait until she sat. The last thing he wanted to do was offer an insult. While he hovered Octavia plonked herself down next to him unceremoniously and grabbed a chunk of bread from the center. Then she poured a drink and took a slug. The Leader laughed and sat down in one of the chairs allowing Councillor Jordan to take the other. Wick sat across from Bellamy and smiled at him wanly. And then Bellamy sat down smiling awkwardly.
"It is my great pleasure to introduce you to Breeze. She is the leader of these people and as of last night she is also my wife." Leader Breeze shot him a humorful look. "Or I should more correctly say I am her husband. It is the custom here for the Leaders to stand higher than their spouse. Fortunately I don't need to become Mr Breeze. Breeze snorted and laughed. "Now that is a bizarre custom, but do not get above yourself, my beloved," she said, but in away that made beloved sound like a title and not a term of endearment. "You are only my second husband." Councillor Jordan nodded in acquiescence. I am sorry it is easy to forget, seeing as your first husband is dead." Breeze shook her head as if addressing a child who stubbornly refused to learn the simplest of lessons. "As long as any of our children live he remains first husband." Her look implied that this explanation should settle matters.
Octavia looked between the two. "Is the distinction important?' Breeze smiled at her question as she took a piece of fruit from the table and began to eat. "For my people yes. First husband is a much higher position, they would not have accepted an outsider as easily to it. His children may claim rights of succession when it comes time to replace me, if that is their wish. While they live no child of a second husband can." Bellamy sat watching the conversation, glad not to be the one talking. Wick who was looking a little better as he drank asked. "So what is the purpose of this marriage then. Mercury said it was politically motivated." Breeze nodded. "Indeed as all the best marriages are. This union brings the Sky people here, into our clan, they have all sworn allegiance to protecting our common interests. The other clans now risk war with us if they attack" Bellamy shook his head. "That sounds great, but I don't understand, what is in it for you?" Breeze laughed and indicated to her husband.
Councillor Jordan answered him succinctly. "We have agreed to share all our technology with them, and they have agreed to share their land. We hope to thrive in this place with our new allies." Just then Bill entered the tent and sunk down next Wick. He turned to the councillor. "They are doing great, you have a healthy granddaughter. They should be well enough to move tomorrow as long as it really is only a short distance." Jordan reached out his hand and clasped Bill on the back. "Thank you. We were lucky that you were here, all of you." He said spreading his gaze across the table. He took on their stunned expressions. "Yes my friends. You arrived just in time to witness the first birth of one of our people on earth for over 100 years. We truly are home." Octavia led the congratulations raising her cup and toasting the baby and a stunned Bellamy joined in. Finally as everyone settled down to eat their food he asked the question that was burning him inside. "How did this happen. How did you achieve this peace?"
Later that night he lay in his bedroll trying to make sense of everything he had heard. It kept rattling around in his brain tormenting him. The Agro station had one hundred and four people on it when it landed. It wasn't considered the safest location, but the farmers had been reluctant to leave their crops and seeds. In the end the station had landed largely intact. Although the radio had clearly detached at some point over the waste. It had come down on the edge of a dead zone. The sand dunes clearly visible in the distance. The only guards on board were those who had stayed close to family. Aware of the hostile situation the 100 were in with the grounders, they'd set up as much of a defensive perimeter as they could. They'd sent out a scouting party to look for signs of the other Arks, but it did not return. In the meantime they had begun integrating their systems into the local water supply, ensuring the the hydroponics which had thrived in space continued to grow. Councillor Jordan had taken great pride in explaining some of the technical details to Wick who had perked up and was looking forward to meeting the Agro engineers tomorrow.
They'd encountered their first grounders on day four. The guards had wanted to put them in a holding cell and interrogate them but Jordan had convinced his people against it. They didn't know where they had landed, or whether these grounders had anything to do with the attack on the 100. He had convinced them not to react with fear but to extend the hand of friendship instead. So they had welcomed the grounders and given them a tour of the hydroponics bays, which hung with beans and vegetables and some fruits. They even had corn, which while it looked impressive had actually been in very meagre supply to feed three thousand people on the Ark. Their ability to grow food in space had been limited to what was already in orbit - mostly research crops. If the Mexicans hadn't already had a biopod in space ready for transport to Mars they'd never have been able to support such a large population. As it was they'd been stretched to almost breaking. They'd explained to their visitors that now they were back on the ground they wanted to start cultivating new crops as soon as possible.
The grounders had been impressed. They had returned to their camp, which was less than half a day away with Jordan and a small delegation. Peace talks between them had started, even before a war began. News of conflict between the clans and some of the Sky people had reached their village. Their warriors fighting under Lexa's command sent back reports. Leader Breeze, who had seen the ship and recognized it's potential for revolutionizing their food supply among other benefits had convinced her people that these Sky people were not part of that. They hadn't even been on the ground when the villages had burned, and clearly these people were not warriors. Then news had arrived that the Commander and the Sky People had a tenuous alliance against the Mountain Men. Over the next weeks the people had gotten to know and like each other. The people of the Agro station just wanted to get crops in the ground. They'd also sent out a small delegation to Camp Jaha accompanied by Breeze's warriors on the way back to Lexa.
Then news that the Alliance had broken reached them at the same time as prisoners released from the mountain. They spoke of betrayal by the Commander and that the Sky people were going to be wiped out as a result. Breeze had called Commander Lexa a few choice names at that point. Short sighted fool was amongst the politest of them. To her the benefits of working with the Sky People were obvious. She just wanted her people to live prosperous healthy lives. But now they would be in danger from the other clans so Breeze had contrived a way to bring these people back into the Grand Alliance, as part of her clan. Jordan, who had to be elevated to the position of Councillor to make it binding, had agreed. Getting his people to agree had been harder but there didn't seem to be a lot of options. They were on the edge of the a blasted land with a friendly tribe between them and the rest of the world. If they survived the eventual joining of their people seemed inevitable anyway.
Bill had been incredulous. "You got married while your daughter was in labor?" But Jordan's daughter hadn't told them. She'd begun to contract and sent Monty's dad and Mercury, who was the healer's second, to get some leaves that the healer believed would stop the labor. The baby was early. When they were not at the ceremony they'd had to continue, but search parties had been sent out. They'd discovered her here in a tent with the healer. So this is where Breeze's court had moved to for the duration. They had not been long set up before Monty returned with medicine. Thankfully Mercury had also shown him where to harvest plants that could be used to stop bleeding and hasten the after birth. Bellamy remembered that Wick had turned pale and excused himself at that point.
When Bellamy had got back to the tent Wick was already snoring. Bellamy was too wound up to sleep. He'd joined Lincoln and Octavia at a small fire near their tents. Whatever they had been talking about had stopped as soon as he sat down. His sister looked tense. "What did you find out?" He asked. Lincoln looked around to see who was nearby before continuing. "Octavia has told me what the Leader said. While it is true, it is not all the truth." Bellamy leaned in closer to listen warming his hands against the flames. "The scouting party reached this village, they sent one of their number back to report to the Argo station. He was intercepted by guards here and brought before the Leader. She had him interrogated. He did not survive. The other two went into the waste. They have not been seen since, but the Commander Lexa had already put a bounty on the head of Sky People. There was much heated discussion amongst the tribe, many wanted to collect on the bounty and curry favor with the Commander. Breeze over ruled them all at great risk to her own position. The scouts that allowed themselves to be captured by your people were a test to see if what the guard had claimed about your technology and their intentions were true." Bellamy nodded to himself. This made more sense.
Lincoln continued pouring himself a drink and offering one to Bellamy. "When they returned to their village most of those who had wanted to collect the bounty had changed their mind. But now there was fighting about the best way the tribe could profit. There were those who argued for taking it all from the Sky People by force, others who wanted to work together. Breeze's own son was very vocal about not working with the Sky people. He would probably be leader here when his mother died so his voice carried a lot of weight. He was considered a great warrior" He paused to drink.
"How did our people convince him?" Octavia asked, poking at the fire with a stick. She looked much younger by the soft glow of the flames. A log crackled and hissed as it shifted and the fire grew suddenly larger. "They didn't. He is found him in the waste impaled on a metal spike" Lincoln shook his head. "I couldn't find out the details. Everyone has a different version of events. Some blamed the Sky People, others whisper that it was his own mother. " Octavia gasped her hand going to her mouth and pretending to yawn incase they were being watched. Lincoln put his arm around her and drew her closer. "Obviously it nearly derailed the peace talks."
There are even some who think Jordan's daughter was poisoned and that's what made the baby come early. An attempt to stop the ceremony. "How significant is the ceremony?" Bellamy asked. Trying to gauge how likely the alliance was to hold. Lincoln considered how to answer this. "It would not be impossible for the clan to betray your people now. But it would put a great stain on their honor. They would be a pariah clan." He drained his cup and passed the bottle to Bellamy before refilling his own.
"No one from Agro station made it to camp Jaha. What do you think happened to them?" Octavia asked. Bellamy and Lincoln were both quiet. Finally Lincoln said. "I don't think it was in Breeze's best interest for them to reach camp Jaha. I doubt last night's ceremony would have taken place if they did." It didn't take a genius to figure out that Breeze had captured a great prize for her clan that would make them stronger in the years to come.
They'd stayed watching the fire for a while. Drinking. Octavia had gotten a little tipsy and started telling Bellamy how much she loved him and how he was the best big brother in the world. She'd hugged him before saying goodnight. Bellamy didn't like it. It felt like goodbye. He'd had enough of goodbye.
So here he lay on his bed listening to Wick snore. It was true that things here were not as harmonious as the leaders would like people to pretend, and there were plans within plans, probably on both sides, but they had achieved peace with barely any loss of life. The faces of all the dead kids who had landed in the Drop Ship haunted him. He didn't even remember all their names. All dead because of him. It had started with Adam and Charlotte, but they had been just the beginning.
He knew the truth. Of course he did. He was to blame. He'd started the war with the Grounders. When he threw Raven's radio into the river he'd set in motion a chain of events that led to flare rockets landing in grounder villages and burning them to the ground. That is what Anya had told Clarke started the war. But no. It started sooner. If he hadn't made the kids take of those damn bracelets they wouldn't have been rushing to send a message to the people of Ark that the earth was survivable. The Ark would already have known. Those three hundred lives were his burden to bear. He tallied up all the death he had caused since agreeing to shoot Jaha. More than three hundred in the Ark. Three hundred Grounders around the Drop Ship. Fifty of his people. Three hundred and eighty two people inside the Mountain. He wasn't sure about Ton D.C Clarke said they hadn't warned anyone to protect him, their inside man, but he felt that one fell squarely on the Mountain men. Still when you'd already got a thousand people killed, what difference did another three hundred make. A thousand people dead because of he wanted to live, to be free. How many widows, how many orphans. He wasn't worth it. He curled into a ball holding himself. He was a monster. His last thought before he finally succumbed to sleep was about Clarke. Was that why his forgiveness hadn't been enough for her? He wasn't worthy to give it.
It was dark and cold. A full moon lit the nightmare landscape of twisted metal spires and teeth which loomed above them menacingly. Beneath his feet broken glass crunched as he followed her through the maze. She was getting away from him. The glimpses of her golden hair getting further apart. She turned a corner and when he got there she was gone. A small boy stood in front of him weeping. "Have you seen my daddy?" He cried. Bellamy kneeled down in front of him and took the young child firmly by the shoulders. He looked him straight in the eyes and the little boy gulped back his tears and waited. "I fed your daddy to the reapers." Bellamy told him coldly. The boys face contorted in pain and wailed as angry red blisters covered his face and he fell to the ground. Bellamy stood. He needed to find her. He stepped over the small body. She had to be here somewhere. Wisps of luminous fog curled around his boot.
"This way!" Maya called from high up a building that was leaning precariously against another. He climbed up the sloping walls out of the biting acid fog which burned his bare hands. She beckoned for him to hurry her face pale and clammy looking in the insipid glow. He reached her window and climbed inside cutting his hand on a shard of glass.
The cold metal collar clamped around his neck and he was forced to the floor. He was naked. "You killed him!" Lovejoy screamed. "You killed my son." Bellamy's face was pressed into the cold concrete. His skin burned. He heard the shock lance before he felt it. Pain ripped through his spasming body and then he was standing hands around Lovejoy's neck. Squeezing. Until. His hands opened and Maya lay on the floor beneath him. Dead.
Bellamy screamed and ran. He was on the edge of a monstrous metal cliff. Beyond the stars stretched on forever. People were throwing themselves off screaming his name. A body brushed past him his mother turned to look him in the eye just before she leaped. He reached out for her too far until he too was falling into the void. Around him bodies burned as they hurtled to the earth.
"Get up!" Clarke ordered him. He was in the Drop Ship. Blood was pouring from his scalp running into his eyes, clouding his vision red. People were frantically trying to climb aboard screaming for help. "We have to close the door." She yelled as her hair was whipped around her scared face by the hurricane winds. Her flimsy clothes offering no protection from the storm.. He looked out of the door. They still had people out there trying to get into the safety of the ship. He turned to argue with Clarke but she had changed. She was dressed like a grounder her hair in braids her clothes leather straps. Hard eyes piercing him from her painted face. He put his bloody hand on hers and pulled the lever. As the door closed he saw Adam and Wells frantically trying to claw their way up the door, but they were lost outside.
"Why are you naked?" Chancellor Jaha asked him as he handed Bellamy a shiny black gun. "Because you took my clothes from me!" Bellamy screamed at him. Then he fired and kept screaming until his voice was raw and the gun was empty. Everyone everywhere was screaming. The world was in torment.
"Bellamy! Bellamy! What's wrong his sister cried out as she dived into his tent. Bellamy was sat up in sweat beading his forehead screaming incoherently. She grabbed him and held him in her strong arms rocking him gently. She crooned his name softly to him soothing him. His screams became whimpers and then sobs. Wick sat up concerned, but Octavia couldn't stand for anyone to see her brother broken like this. She snarled at him in the darkness lit only by the small flashlight she had dropped as she rushed to him. "Get Out!" Wick didn't argue.
She continued to rock him, holding his head tightly against her chest. Tears streaming down her face. Kissing his head. Stroking his dark curls. Telling him it was alright. She was alright. He was alright. But he continued to sob and tremble, mumbling incoherently. Bill silently injected him with a sedative. Only then did he quiet in her arms but Octavia held onto him still. How could she ever let him go.
