Fallen Angel [Bellamy Blake]

Chapter 31: a mask

BELLAMY AND I GATHER AS MUCH OF THE supplies as we could carry from the depot.

Things between us felt... like there was a shift. Bellamy and I were in each others arms for a good portion of the night before we felt whole enough to do what we had to do. He cleaned up my wounds and I cleaned up his. And things were tender between us. He would brush his fingers over mine as we gathered supplies. Leaned in close as he picked up items. He walked close by on our way back to camp. I couldn't tell what exactly this was with him or how I felt about it. It was all so new considering how much I thought I hated him a few days ago.

But once we were back at camp, that air between us was broken. The tension in the air could choke us. As we cross the threshold, Bellamy immediately places himself in front of me. Everyone stood at the center of camp, a sense of panic buzzes through the crowd.

Miller pushes through the crowd just as we approach everyone. He doesn't waste a beat to splutter out, "He's gone. The grounder's gone! What if he brings back other grounders? He'll kill us all or worse!"

But Bellamy's face only hardens with determination. "Let the grounders come!" He roars so everyone could hear him.

The crowd turns to face us, parting down the middle to let us through. Clarke walks out to stand in front of us. She looks at us with wide eyes. We probably looked like a mess, no matter how much we tried to clean up, but who cares. I look at Bellamy beside me, focusing my attention on him.

Bellamy continues his speech, "We've been afraid of them for far too long, and why? Because of their knives and spears? I don't know about you. I'm tired of being afraid."

Bellamy glances down at me, and I give him a small nod. Together we throw down the guns we carried on our backs. The crowd lets out a low cheer along with gasps of disbelief.

"They're not toys." I quickly interject, noticing the disapproving looks from Clarke and Finn. "These weapons meant to kill. So they have to be treated with respect. We'll have to give them up when the guard comes down but for now, they'll keep us safe."

"They're plenty more where this came from. Tomorrow we start training, and if the grounders come, we're going to be ready to fight."

Around me everyone gave each other wistful glances. You could see some of the fear start to dissipate from their faces—they had hope again.

Bellamy stalks off when he notices Clarke approaching us. He probably wasn't in the mood to argue with her. Neither was I.

She looks down at the rifles. "I can't believe it."

"Clarke, we need--"

"I'm not fighting this." She clarifies. "I don't have to like it but you guys are right. We can talk later about where to keep them and who gets them."

I nod, thankful that Clarke was not going to make this difficult. "What happened here?" I ask.

A small smile plays on her lips. "Turns out those nuts make you hallucinate. Everyone saw some pretty crazy stuff."