OUT OF MIND² ━━ Bellamy Blake

𝐗𝐗𝐗: To Choose

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TO CHOOSE

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"WE HAVE FACED extinction before, and we have persevered, but we have always been familiar with sacrifice, and today we will be tested once again."

Kane's voice echoes through the silent rotunda. His expression is tense, his mouth thin and cramped together in a worried line ━━ the only bit that betrays his fear of what is yet to come. He takes a small step back, gesturing discreetly to the pair standing just behind him.

     Lyra and Noah.

     Noah had found her just a little under an hour ago, still curled into a shivering, sniveling ball where Bellamy had left her. But Lyra had already seen the toll Praimfaya has taken on her dad and she refuses to worsen his worry. She does not want to be selfish. So she'd wiped any stray tears and promised him that she could go on just a little bit longer.

     She faces Skaikru bravely. Their faces merge together until it is one hazy sea of dread.

     "The ground won't be survivable for 5 years." She tries to keep the hopelessness out of her voice, but she's not quite sure it works. "I ran the numbers. This bunker can only generate oxygen and food for 1,200 people for that length of time."

     A stunned silence grips the masses.

     Shrinking into herself, Lyra sucks in a sharp breath and tries not to show her fear. Noah squeezes her hand gently and she glances at him. The worry in his eyes is heart wrenching.

     She squeezes his hand back.

     Kane steps forwards again. "By mandate of the Conclave, our clan has been given 100 beds, an equal number of spots as all the rest. To fill them, we will hold a fair lottery."

     At this, murmurs break out.

     "A fair lottery!" Kane fights to have his voice heard about the people. "We will hold a fair lottery, an equal chance for everybody!"

     "How long do you think the Grounders would last in here without us?" A voice breaks through the jumbled up mass and Lyra can make out a tall man with a severe gash on his forehead speaking up; his face is hot with anger. "Our people know how to operate oxygen scrubbers and hydro farms!"

     There are several shouts of agreement. Noah looks as though he's fighting the urge to strangle every last one of them.

     "I don't like this any more than you do!" Kane rushes to reassure them, though a sweat has broken out across his forehead.  "But we must call upon the better angels of our nature to guide us. Like the culling on the Ark, some must die today so that our people may survive."

      Ducking her head down, Lyra frowns. She knows Bellamy still blames himself for the Culling.

     "What about her?" The same man from earlier looks angrier still. "Is her name in the lottery, too? We're just gonna let some Grounder take a bed from one of our own?"