When Songbirds Fly | Bellamy Blake

Chapter Two: Earth Skills

No matter how far we run, it doesn't feel like we're any safer. I can still see Jasper's wide eyes staring back at me.

It's only just setting in—the realisation that we aren't alone. We aren't alone and we aren't safe.

Monty trips over his own frantic feet, his hands grabbing at thin air as he falls to the ground.

He comes face to face with a skeleton.

I yelp as my foot brushes against what looks like a leg bone.

'Who are they?'

'What are they?'

We look up to see Clarke holding a skull in the palms of her hands. It isn't shaped like a normal skull, though. The brow bulges out and the bone itself curves in both directions from a long groove right down the middle of its scalp.

A scream echoes through the forest from behind us. A long, despairing wail of a person in agony.

The skull falls to the ground.

'Jasper,' Clarke gasps, 'he's alive.'

We run after her and Finn quickly pulls her back. 'Clarke, wait. Stay out of the trees,' he hisses.

Only a few yards ahead of us, I can see the fallen sign. 'He's gone.'

'He was right there.'

'No, where is he?'

The girl meets my fearful stare, suddenly not so sure of herself. We both know what happened.

'They took him.'

——————

The first thing I see when we reach the Dropship is Wells holding a shiv to Murphy's throat.

'Hey!' Rushing forwards, I snatch the blade from his hand and drag Murphy away from him. 'The hell are you guys playing at, huh?'

My gaze falls on Bellamy. His hair now curls in an unruly mop and his skin, once golden-beige and unblemished, is smeared with sweat and grime. The guard's uniform has been replaced with black trousers and a tight, navy t-shirt.

His dark eyes burn into me with an unnerving intensity. It's like he's trying to anticipate my next action. Either that or he's trying to memorise every detail of my appearance.

'D'you have something to do with this? You put them up to this?'

Scowling, Murphy tears his arm free from my grip. 'Back off, Calihan. I'm not a kid, I don't need you to protect me.'

'Stop fucking acting like one, then. You think I wanna be doing this? You think I wanna be picking up the pieces after another of your pointless fights?'

'I never asked you to. Stop acting like you know anything, you're not my mom.'

'Yeah, 'cause she'd do a better job than I have for the past, what, eleven years?'

Our argument is finally interrupted by Bellamy, who barges past us to get to his little sister. 'Octavia! Are you all right?'

She only winces in reply, letting him help her to one of the logs by the bonfire. Blood has started to stain her trousers.

Confusion overwhelms his worry when he looks to Clarke, Monty and Finn. 'Where's the food?'

'We didn't get to Mount Weather.'