Fallen

Chapter Nine: Unity Day

Ash gets a cup of "Unity Juice" that Monty made. She has talked to her dad and made peace with him and forgave Bellamy. Though part of her is still weary, she is trying to understand he had a reason to do so. A transmission of the Unity Day ceremony is being broadcast so those in the camp can see it. She grabs another cup and takes over to Bellamy.

"To one good Unity Day," she jokes.

"To one good Unity Day," he responds before they take a sip.

"Oh that's strong," Ash coughs. 

"Yeah," he responds. The two then shrugs their shoulders before each finishing up their cups. "Well I have guard duty today. Figured the others would want a day off."

"I-I'll join you," she tells him.

"Are you sure?"

"You can't watch the entire perimeter by yourself."

He rolls his eyes with a small smirk on his face. She goes to watch the wall only for her foot to slide on some frozen mud. Bellamy grabs her wrist, pulling her roughly towards him. Her heartbeat increases in volume so much, she is pretty sure even he can hear it.

"Thank you," she tells him, pulling away.

"Of course," he responds, flustered. People start freaking out some as the transmission cuts out. They look towards the screen to see it went dark.

"What happened?" Ash asks Jasper.

"Something must have just hit the camera," he concludes. She nods her head before turning back to Bellamy. He shrugs and she responds with the same motion. She thanks Jasper before going to watch the wall.

*****

People keep on partying through the day. Clarke hands Ash another cup of alcohol before going to give another to Bellamy. She starts getting a buzz at this point, but keeps drinking. Clarke leaves Bellamy to join the drinking games going on. 

"Ash," Bellamy calls over. She gets down from her post before heading over to him. "Have I even showed you how to hold the gun properly?" he chuckles.

"No. But I mean, it's aim and shoot, so..."

"Aim at the tree," he orders. She does as told, aim the gun barrel towards the plant a few yards away.  "That's what I thought. You won't be able to hit a Grounder with that stance."

He readjusts her stance and how she is holding the weapon.

"Like Grounders are going to give us enough time to get in a proper stance," she mutters under her breath. Bellamy moves a bit closer, moving her arms up. She can feel his breath by her ear.

"No," he responds. "But it will become second nature. You won't need much time to get in position."

He pulls away from her as Clarke hurries over. Ash lowers her gun and looks towards her.

"Finn set up a meeting with the Grounders," she tells them.

"This might be a good thing," Ash states. "If we can make peace, then there is no need for war."

"I would prefer if one of you is in the woods in case the Grounders try to pull something. And for Finn to not know."

"I'll lead a small group," Bellamy promises her. "Just leave the path for us to follow."

She nods her head before heading back to where Finn is. 

"I don't think bringing guns to peace talks is a smart idea," Ash tells him. 

"Then I'll stay hidden in the woods."

"How can we build trust if we hide weapons aimed at them?"

"And you think they won't be armed as well?"

"I'm not going to stand here and argue with you," she groans. "And to think we were having a decent moment together."

"You mean when I was showing you how to properly shoot at a Grounder."

"That was before peace was on the table."

"They attacked us first. They may claim they want peace, but then attack when we least expect. That's what they do."

"That's what we assume they do." She turns to leave. "I may not be able to stop you, but I don't agree."

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Away from you at the moment. Don't forget you need to find your little group to protect the princess."

She walks away and slips into the crowd of partying teens.

*****

Ash sits by the remainder of the fire, trying to keep the ashes warm for a fire in a bit. Soon the six that left the night before return. All of them yelling blames at each other. Clearly the peace talks went well. They separate and Bellamy starts walking past Ash. She keeps her head down.

"It's a good thing we brought weapons," he states, stopping by her. "They had archers aiming towards Clarke."

He starts walking away as a loud sonic boom fills the air. People hurry out of where they are sleeping to see the cause of the noise. Everyone looks up to see the Exodus ship falling to the ground.

"They're a day early," Bellamy states.

"They're not slowing down," Ash point out, quickly standing up. It crashes to the ground with an explosion. Her hand covers her mouth in shock. She looks at Clarke, who is looking at her with tears in her eyes. Both of their parents are supposed to be on the ship that just crashed.