Fallen Angel [Bellamy Blake]

Chapter 39

THIS WAS MY FIRST EVER GUARD PATROL.

I had brought up the idea to Bellamy and Clarke when they were first treating my wounds, they were hesitant due to the obvious physical and mental injuries I had endured, but somehow I convinced to take pity on me. Of course that was before the whole bridge fiasco and the topic was never really revisited. I still wanted to be on guard duty. If something was coming, I wanted to be the first know.

Miller removes the gun strap from his shoulder as I climbed up the ladder. He sets it down by the post and gives me a half-hearted salute before climbing down after me. I try to get comfortable in my position, but the makeshift wooden bench was hardly pleasant. But it sure was nice to be above the camp, in a nice peaceful solitude. I had forgotten how nice it was to stare out into the woods from above.

I thought my post was going to be uneventful—or at least that's what I had hoped for. That was until the wooden beams beneath me start shaking.
Someone was rapidly climbing up the ladder, with what seemed like no regard for the structural integrity of this wall. I grip the railing and turn around in time to see Bellamy. Great, I thought, now he's going to tell me I can't and shouldn't be on patrol. But he didn't look upset or like he came to pick a fight. No, there was only pure panic on his face. He doesn't say a word to me, he just cups my face in his hands and searches desperately. "Are you alright?" He asks with urgency.

"Uh, yeah," I say in confusion.

He sighs in relief, believing me. He drops his hands from my face and shakes his head. "Everyone's getting sick. Clarke says it's biological warfare. Some form of hemorrhagic fever—whatever the hell that means. She's setting up a quarantine but you should get checked anyway."

"Okay." I breath. I only understood bits and pieces of what he said because he was talking so fast but the urgency in voice was enough for me to act quickly.

I remove the gun from my shoulder and set it down on the post just like Miller had done. He climbs down first and waits for me at the bottom. He keeps his hands hovering near my body in case I needed his support. I knew we weren't on the best of terms after what happened but for some reason the gesture made my stomach flip.

Once I was on the ground facing the camp, I understood what Bellamy meant. Several campers around us were holding torn pieces of cloth up to their mouths. Everyone was giving each other wary looks. Two campers were carrying out a dead body from the dropship. A few feet from them Clarke looks over at us, blood stained underneath her eyes. My mouth drops open at how pale Clarke looked. I begin to move toward her but Bellamy pulls me back.

"Alright, shows over! Get back to your posts!" He yells to the campers gathered around the dropship entrance. Bellamy looks at Clarke with concern. "You got enough food and water in there?"

"Yeah." She wheezes out. "Some medicine might be nice."

Bellamy smiles. "I'll see what I can do."

Clarke gives a tiny nod before turning around to go back into the dropship. My mouth was still agape in confusion—what was going on? Was someone going to explain this to me?