Wildest Dreams || Bellamy Blake

Chapter 3

By the time night began to fall, I had discovered that tent making was a painfully boring job, and I decided to poke around camp to see if I could be useful elsewhere. I joined in with a group that was pulling out salvageable items from inside the drop ship to use in building up camp, and as I came out with an armful of ripped harnesses and seat cushions, I saw Chancellor Blake surrounded by a crowd of people, bathed in the dancing light of the fire. As everyone else seemed to be drawn in as well, I followed to see what new ordinance he had decided to lay down upon us prisoners.

"We need to take off these wristbands," I caught him explaining, "The people up there, monitoring our every move, they're the ones that locked you up in the first place. You think when they come down that you will all just be forgiven of your crimes? That we won't all still face the same judgement and oppression? We have finally escaped the command of the Ark, and it's time for us to start making decisions for ourselves."

I couldn't hold it in any longer, "But what about the doctors, engineers, farmers? How are we supposed to survive down here without any of that knowledge?" It worried me how I seemed to be the only one considering the worst case scenario.

"We are strong. We can survive on our own," Bellamy answered me, but shouted it to the whole crowd. "We have our freedom now! This is our Earth, and we can do whatever the hell we want!" And just like that, the entire crowd roared up in a chant, screaming out "Whatever the hell we want!" in unison, as if they were the greatest words that had ever been spoken. Bellamy stood, arms crossed and a smug look of satisfaction spread across his face. The rest of the camp disassembled and scattered around camp, everyone laughing and celebrating. A line started near the fire for the snake-like boy, who I know knew as John Murphy, and two others to start taking off the wrist bands, casting them into the fire. Bellamy watched with pure satisfaction. Whether I liked it or not, he was king.

I approached him and stood next to him, mimicking his stance with my arms wrapped across my own chest. "Look," I started, looking straight ahead and avoiding eye contact, "I can tell you aren't someone I want as an enemy. I don't know how you got down here, but judging by the uniform and the gun I noticed on your hip, you didn't do it by asking nicely. I think the wrist band thing is idiotic, disastrous even. But I won't fight you in taking mine off," at this point I looked up at Bellamy and he looked down to meet my gaze, seeming surprised at how easily I had relented. I continued, looking back in front of me, "The last thing I want is the council and the rules of the charter coming down here and recreating the order of the Arc. So I get it. And I'll live with it. If we have to find a way, we will. You may not be Chancellor but everyone here is looking to you. I just think you should consider the consequences of all this." I heard him scoff a little, but I kept going. "This 'whatever the hell we want' thing, it sounds great. But what happens when whatever the hell I want conflicts with whatever the hell someone else wants? Who gets to decide when enough is enough? Whether you like it or not there are going to have to be rules and people are going to get pissed. I just hope you're prepared for all that before you go making any big decisions." I bit my tongue to keep myself from adding "Chancellor" to the end of my sentence. Bellamy looked down at me, an amused smirk on his face.

"I appreciate your concern for everyone's feelings, Ryan. But I should have it covered." Again with his condescending tone. I didn't know why I had even bothered trying to offer the olive branch. He clearly wasn't keen on making friends. But then he continued, "I have my reasons for doing what I do. I have to protect my sister. Those people up there, they forced her to live under the floor for 16 years, and then they locked her away for coming out and floated my mother. If having to work to support our own means we never have to answer to those that have killed and abused in the name of the greater good, then so be it. They don't deserve the ground." I glanced up and saw the determination behind his stoic stare. Suddenly I understood why he was the way he was. I still didn't like it, and wasn't sure that I liked him, but at least I finally understood.

"I stabbed the guard who arrested my mom." I suddenly offered. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bellamy look down at me, intrigued. "She was stealing extra rations for us. After my dad drank himself to death, we didn't have much. She got caught, and the guard turned her into Jaha. I saw him in an empty corridor a few months later and before I knew it, my pencil was lodged in the side of his neck. He lived, tragically, but I got boxed up. I would have gotten floated at the end of the month." I finished and looked up to gauge Bellamy's reaction. He actually appeared to be truly sympathetic and I think in that moment we realized we weren't that different.

Without saying a word, I held out my wrist with the band attached. He took his knife and jimmied the clasp apart, tossing it down into the fire. We once again locked eyes, this time in a mutual understanding of respect, and in that moment the skies opened up and water began to fall down in sheets upon us. Rain. I had never felt rain, I could only ever had imagined what it felt like. But this felt a million times better than I had ever dreamed.

I looked up at Bellamy to see his hair fallen down into his eyes, his hands held out to feel the rain drops.

"We should collect this," I said, slightly yelling through the pound of the rain into the nearby tree tops.

He looked down at me and gave me a slight smile, "Whatever the hell you want."