ATARAXIA • BELLAMY BLAKE

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"Listen."

For what? I turn my head to look at Monty, who's the first one to speak up, the only other sound filling the level being all of our ragged breaths.

"No machine hum."

A smile makes it way onto my lips at the realization that I've never experienced such quietness before in my life. Ever. It's oddly unsettling.

"Whoa," breathes Jasper. "That's a first."

Just as those words leave his mouth, the many teenagers start to unbuckle their seatbelts, desperate to see the outside world that they've only ever dreamed to experience.

I do the same, only I go straight towards the boys that had been slammed against the walls earlier rather than down the ladder and towards the exit.

"Finn, is he breathing?" asks a girl who's checking the other boy.

I recognize her to be Clarke Griffin, the girl whose father had been floated for treason a year prior. His case had been very public, yet secretive, since no one but the Council and Clarke knows exactly what he had done. Trust me, I have done some digging of my own, but I never found the answer. Even Jaime doesn't know.

I crouch down next to the two, resting my fingers on the unconscious boy's neck, searching for the pulse which had stopped pumping mere moments before I or anyone else could check it. Finn takes a step backwards, having felt the same stillness on the boy's neck. Clarke looks at him expectantly.

"No," I answer for him, and Clarke's eyes meet mine. "He's dead."

Clarke's expression falls, but when someone suddenly yells something about locating the exit she's quick to get up and protest.

"No, we can't just open the doors!" She rushes towards a ladder, leaving Finn and I by ourselves.

"You were the first to unbuckle?" I question, and he nods his head hesitantly.

It's obvious that he's affected by having played a part in the two boys' deaths, so I decide not to make him feel any worse by mentioning it. Instead I ask him if he's hurt, knowing that he had taken quite a fall as well.

He shakes his head. "No, I'm fine."

"Okay," I nod. "Good."

I eye him for a moment, figuring that he wants a moment to himself to process what just happened, so I leave him to it. I take a look across the level, seeing that no one else is up here anymore and start to descend the ladder.

Once I make it about halfway down and see the crowd that has formed beneath me, my entire body freezes from surprise when my eyes are met by the sight of Bellamy Blake. He's holding Octavia in a tight embrace at the very front of the crowd, his relieved expression switching to one of equal surprise when his eyes catch mine.

You have got to be kidding me. The last person I ever expected to see on this ship was Bellamy. How the hell he's managed to get onboard, I have absolutely no idea, but it's certainly not a pleasant surprise. He looks different; his usually tousled curls have been gelled back into a slick do, and—is that guard's uniform?

I, by some miracle, manage to pull myself out of my surprised state, quickly looking away and proceeding to climb down the rest of the ladder. I feel the familiar anger starting to boil in my blood as I keep my head down, not wanting to meet his eyes again. I move to the very back of the crowd to put some distance between us. It isn't until Clarke speaks up, questioning Bellamy's lack of what she calls a wristband, that my attention once again is gained.

Octavia is quick to turn around to face the older girl, the annoyance at the interruption clear as day on her face. "Do you mind?" she sasses. "I haven't seen my brother in a year."