Taming Chaos // J.M // The 100

Chapter 2.2

At least the Council was smart enough to supply tents and cots for the hundred, hidden away in hatches under the floor. Found by Bellamy but quickly distributed by the rest, people butting in to get first dibs.

Whatever the hell they wanted, right?

It isn't as comfortable as the mattresses in the Ark, but it would do.

Ethan's awake bright and early like the rest, because the light pierces through the thin material of the tents and stabs him in the eyes.

Time is weird down here.

Real, living birds' chirp when the sun rises above the horizon and the heat gets stifling - something else he'll never get used to. The heat.

So much is happening when he slips out of the entrance and swings his eyes across the clearing. 

A kid knocks into his arm as he turns the corner - running too fast to stop, he trips, rolling pathetically to the dirt. Despite being sleepy and confused, Ethan bursts into laughter.

"Interference!" The boy bellows, spitting grass from his mouth.

Bent over his knees, wheezing a laugh, Ethan doesn't see the group of other teenagers coming up behind him until one of them is practically hanging off of his shoulders, almost taking him to the ground.

"Tag!"

Ethan's laughter trails off, looking from teenager to teenager, suddenly crowded by them. "What?"

"Ha! That's what you get!" The boy that tripped - Clumsy, as he's been quickly dubbed - is back on his feet, pointing a finger at him. "You've been tagged, dumbass!"

Ethan twists his lips into a vicious smirk. He thinks he understands this game now.

Clumsy's face drops.

A variety of kids of all shapes, colours and sizes glance from him, then to each other. They don't move until he settles into a ready stance.

In a blink of a second, they take off, bolting in separate directions.

The laughter is uncaring, thundering just like their boots against the Earth. If anyone was still sleeping, they wouldn't be anymore.

Ethan's having the best goddamn time of his life. He's never been around so many people willing to just have fun. Never played games like this before. The freedom is addicting.

The only adult around, as far as Ethan's aware, is Bellamy Blake. And there's no way he's letting the guy order him around.

Supervision wasn't needed.

He's finally free.

The same boy, Clumsy, trips on his feet again, and another stumbles over him, slamming into the dirt and leaving them breathless, then it's like dominos until they're piled on top of each other. Ethan's at the top, laughing tirelessly into the fresh air. His laugh is loud and wheezing, out of breath as he pants into the sky that he could stare at for days. But he gets up and holds his arm out for the next kid, and the next until they're all back on their feet and running off once more.