Defiance • Bellamy Blake [1]

16. Rations

"This changes everything." Bellamy said. "No more running from spears. Ready to be a badass, Harley?"

I picked up a gun and examined it. "Look. I'm not gonna fight you on bringing guns back to camp. I know we need them, but don't expect me to like it."

"We're lucky the rifles were packed in grease. The fact that they survived means we're not sitting ducks anymore. You need to learn how to do this." Bellamy said.

I held the gun up and pointed it to the wall. I have never held or used a gun before so I had no idea what to do.

"So I just hold it on my shoulder?" I asked. I put the gun on my shoulder and aimed it forward.

"Yeah, just a little higher now, that end." Bellamy said lifting it up.

He put his hand on my back. His touch was warm and I got butterflies in my stomach. I don't know what that means. I tried to ignore his hand on my back but it was hard. But I played it off well I think. I looked through the eye piece and tried to line it up well.

"Yeah. Uh, that's good. Uh, watch and learn."

I dropped the rifle and watched as Bellamy picked up one and tried to shoot. It clicked. Bellamy sighed and dropped the bullet out of the cage. He tried again but the same thing happened.

"Still watching." I said.

"My bullets are duds. Try yours."

I stepped forward and went into the position I was previously in. I waited a second before firing at the wall. I hit the bottom. I would be lying if I said that wasn't fun.

"That was amazing." I said. I turned around and looked at Bellamy. "Am I horrible for feeling that?"

He had a smile on his face as he shook his head. "Try again."

I faced the wall but then turned back around, thinking better of it.

"No. We shouldn't waste the ammunition." I said.

"You need to practice."

"No. We need to talk about how we're gonna keep guns around camp, where are we gonna keep them, and who has access."

I stopped when Bellamy picked up a rifle and fired a bullet at the wall.

"You left Miller in charge of the grounder. You must trust him." I continued.

"You should keep him close. The others listen to him."

"I should keep him close? Bellamy, what's going on? You've been acting weird all day." My eyes travelled down to the large bag of rations. Everything started to click. "All the rations you took. You're gonna run. That's why you agreed to come with me. You were gonna load up on supplies and just disappear."

"I don't have a choice. The Ark will be here soon." He said.

"So you're just gonna leave Octavia?"

"Octavia hates me. She loves you. She'll be fine."

"You don't know -"

"I shot the Chancellor." Bellamy said cutting me off. "They're gonna kill me, Harley. Best case scenario, they lock me up with the grounder for the rest of my life, and there's no way in hell I'm giving Jaha the satisfaction. Keep practicing. I need some air."

Bellamy walked away from me. I turned around and watched him leave. I didn't know if he'd come back.

I turned back to the wall to shoot but it got further away. I backed up and noticed that the entire place looked different. I looked down at the rifle. It started to bend and point towards me. I dropped it. I looked around me and suddenly I wasn't in the bunker anymore. I was in my old cell.