Wildest Dreams || Bellamy Blake

Chapter 2

Bellamy wasn't one of the 100, he was much too old. How had he gotten on the ship? Judging by the guard's uniform he wore, he didn't get here by any respectable means. Bellamy had a secret, and I knew it must be dark. I could see the weight of it on his shoulders. As I was trying to piece together any feasible answer, Bellamy thrust the door open and for a brief second we all waited for the radiation to begin to melt the flesh off our bones. But it didn't. The sun shone into the ship and we all squinted our eyes and looked out into the haze. Octavia jumped off the front of the door and paused for a moment. When she realized she was safe, she threw up her arms and yelled "We're back, Bitches!"

With a rush, everyone began to run out of the front of the ship. I lost Finn in the shuffle, and took a second to pause and look up into the sky. The sun felt warm on my face and hands, and I closed my eyes and let myself bask in the rays and the sweet, earthy air. I removed my black jacket and tied it around my waist, and the sun felt tingly on my bare arms. I tied my long wavy hair up at the nape of my neck, the hairs around my forehead already beginning to stick to my skin from the unexpected heat. The air didn't feel so heavy down here, it felt fresh and clean. And for once, I didn't feel like a mouse trapped in a cage. I felt alive.

I spotted Finn with Clarke in the distance, and headed over to share my elation with them. I found them pouring over a map, and Clarke's brow furrowed in frustration.

"What's going on?" I asked, sensing something was wrong.

"We landed here," she said, pointing to a spot on the map. "And Mount Weather, where Jaha told us our supplies are, is all the way over here," She pointed out the mountain marked on the map, quite a distance from where she indicated we were. She continued, "There's a radiation soaked forest between us and our next meal."

Bellamy suddenly approached behind us, and the hair stood up on my neck a little. What was it about him?

"What's going on over here?" He asked sternly, his voice thunderous and strong.

"They dropped us on the wrong damn mountain." I answered looking back over my shoulder at him, but he didn't return my look, he stayed focused on the map. By now Wells, the Chancellor's son, Octavia, and a few others had crowded around as well.

"We need to get to Mount Weather. We should leave now if we want to eat any time soon," Clarke explained.

"We'll plan out a route and then we all need to go and carry back enough supplies," Wells added. I had never met Wells before, and he seemed kind, but something about the Chancellor's son being here made me uneasy. The way I grew up, the Chancellor and the council weren't to be trusted. From the way everyone was looking at Clarke and Wells, I could tell we all shared that mutual feeling.

"Why don't you guys go, let the privileged do some work for a change?" Bellamy asserted, stepping in closer to loom over Wells. Everyone murmured agreement, but I stayed silent. Wells began to protest, until a snake-like boy got in his face, pushing him in an effort to start a fight.

"Fine, then Clarke and I will go. Wells, your leg will only slow us down." Finn decided in an effort to cut the tension, gesturing to Well's bandaged knee.

"How are you two going to carry back enough supplies for 100 people?" Bellamy demanded. His presence made him seem a foot taller than he was, and I was uneasily aware of how close we were standing.

Finn grabbed two unsuspecting boys, that I recognized from the Ark, and brought him in with himself and Clarke, and Bellamy agreed to finally let them go. Oddly, Octavia suddenly offered to join the trip, too. I couldn't figure out why, until I saw the way she looked at Finn. Seemed like he could charm the pants off a Blake sibling, too.

Finn looked back at me, "You coming? We're gonna have even better adventures down here."

"No, I think I'm going to stay back. I want to try to start building up a supply of medicinal herbs from around here, see what we're working with." Which was half true, but the other half of me was much too scared of the unknown territory surrounding us to be one of the first to explore it. On the Ark, I had studied botany. Up there, all the plants and herbs were lined up in nice, neat labeled rows. I knew exactly which plant could be used for what and where to get it. I loved working with the plants. My teachers said I was one of the best they had ever seen. Down here, I was really going to have to test that claim.

"Herbs? What for?" I looked up, and for the first time, Bellamy was speaking to me. His condescending tone made me decide I didn't think I quite liked him.

"I studied botany on the Ark. I doubt we are going to survive down here injury free, so I think we should start collecting what we can find to get by. Burns, scratches, broken bones. We don't have a medical bay down here." I stared up at Bellamy, trying to sound sure and convicted, to show him I wasn't someone who was going to back down.

"Yeah. Sure, you do that." Bellamy turned around and headed back towards the drop ship. Perhaps I didn't come off as commanding as I had hoped.

I began to venture out in search of useful plants. I never went far enough to lose the sound of camp, afraid of getting lost in the wilderness. I managed to collect some eucalyptus and lavender, not the best stockpile but enough to start. I would have to have Finn take me back out to expand my search once he got back.

When I reached the drop site, I found that everyone was beginning to set up camp. A few people were stringing together tents, and two boys were crouched down trying to start a fire. I headed into the drop ship in search of a container to keep my plants in, and found on old, and empty, first aid kit tossed in a corner. How fitting.

Walking back out of the drop ship, I once again ran unexpectedly into Bellamy Blake.

"Did you get your flowers?" He asked.

"Yes, and when you're the one who needs my help you won't be so patronizing. This is the closest thing we have to medicine," I said, shaking my box.

"What's your name?" Bellamy questioned, ignoring my comment.

"Avery Ryan, from Argo Station"

"What did you get locked up for, Avery?" He continued his line of questions.

"Someone insulted my flowers." I replied, raising my eyebrows at him. He let out a small chuckle, dropping his head to look at his feet, and I saw the first hint of a smile from him. He lifted his eyes back up at me, his face serious again, his hands in his pockets.

"Listen," he started. I didn't like his assumed power over everyone, "we've gotta get as much done before dark as possible. Who knows when the band of merry men will be back with our food so we are going to have to make due with what we have. Why don't you find a home for your plants and go help with the tent building." He kept his eyes on me waiting for me to move. I held his gaze for a second, the urge to tell him to go screw himself welling up inside of me. I forced myself to turn on my heels and walk back out towards the middle of camp, but not before throwing a "Yes, Chancellor," behind my shoulder at Bellamy. I could almost feel his anger.

"Don't call me that. I am nothing like him."

I turned on my heels once more, walking backwards to look at him, enjoying that I had managed to ruffle his feathers, "Well then what do you call someone who decides he gets to call all the shots?" I called back. He turned and stomped back into the drop ship.