Fallen Angel [Bellamy Blake]

Chapter 35: unity day

Miller's words lingered longer than I expected them to.

For a moment, they settled something restless inside my chest—quieted the noise, softened the edges. But then my eyes drifted across camp.

And I saw them.

All of them gathered outside the dropship—laughing, shoving each other, smiling like the world hadn't nearly ended yesterday.

Like I hadn't.

Something in my chest tightened.

From where I stood, it felt like I was looking in from the outside. Like there was a line I couldn't cross anymore, something invisible but very real separating me from them.

I couldn't tell Miller that.

Couldn't tell anyone.

Because the truth was—I wouldn't let them carry this.

They didn't deserve that.

So I'd do what I always did.

Bury it.

Push it down so deep it couldn't touch anything else. Lock it away where no one could see it, where it couldn't spill out and ruin everything.

I'd smile. Laugh. Be strong.

For them.

Because they deserved better than someone who couldn't even hold herself together.

Miller stood, brushing the dirt from his pants before offering me a hand. "Ready for Unity Day?"

I took it, letting him pull me up.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

—

The crowd had grown by the time we reached the dropship. Raven had set up a small screen, and everyone was gathered around it, shoulder to shoulder.

Miller pushed his way toward the front, dragging me along with him. The moment Jaha appeared on the screen, Miller crossed his arms, already unimpressed.

"My friends," Jaha's voice echoed through the camp, "this is a historic Unity Day. Every year, we mark the moment our ancestors of the twelve stations joined to form the Ark—but this will be the last time we celebrate it in space. Next year... on the ground."

"Right," Miller muttered beside me. "After we did all the work. Someone shut him up."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Then stop watching."

"For ninety-seven years, we have eked out an existence," Jaha continued, "hoping that someday our descendants would return to Earth—"

Finn scoffed.

Clarke shot him a look. "Don't tell me you don't like Unity Day."

"Unity Day is a lie," Finn said flatly. "The Ark only came together after the thirteenth station got blown out of the sky. Not exactly the version they tell at parties."