Not All Fun and Games

Chapter 32

That night, we all crowd around the fire. After the long day's events, everyone seems happy to just sit down and eat.
Unfortunately, no one has caught anything for us to eat. But somehow, nobody's complaining. I guess after seeing Alex, they're all just thankful to be alive.
There are thick logs surrounding the fire pit, and at least half of camp are sitting on them, squished together side by side. Except Bellamy, who has an empty spot next to him. He waves, summoning me to come sit with him. I obey, and thank him as I sit on the warm wood that is heated by the fire.
"Protein paste?" He offers, holding out a small silver pack.
"Only if you eat half of it," I reply. I know Bellamy's hungry-l—he hasn't eaten for several hours—he's just being polite.
"Fine," he agrees, splitting the pack open and handing it to me. I squeeze half of its pasty brown contents into my mouth, blocking my nose as I do so. I've never enjoyed the sweet but bland taste of protein paste. For a moment I feel bad, because I know that Bellamy has had to eat much more of it than I have. He's from Walden, a poorer section of the ark, so he couldn't afford much fruit, spices or anything that cost more than a few ration points.
"Here," I say, handing it to him.
He's eyeing me strangely. "Really hate the taste, don't you?"
I blush, feeling ashamed and dumb. "Uh-yea. I never really liked the taste," I confess, not meeting his eye.
"Yea, Octavia hates it. But I don't mind it too much. I've learned to live with it."
I nod. I want to say something back, but I'm not sure how to reply.
Just as I open my mouth, a cheer sounds throughout the camp. I spin around, following their gazes. Kaytee and Murphy emerge from the trees holding a large grey animal. I stand up and walk towards them to get a better look.
I swallow a gasp and force myself not to jump back. My eyes strain to get a better look at the animal, and I realize my mind hasn't been playing tricks on me-the animal has 5 legs, the fifth one growing from the middle of its chest.
My eyes travel across the rest of it's body. The animal's fur is thick and matted, and it's round brown eyes are still open. They make me feel guilty.
"What is it?" Someone asks, and a few other people join me in inspecting the large animal. Bellamy is among them.
"It's a wolf," he says. "And it appears to have one too many legs," he adds, as if he weren't effected at all by it.
"More for us to eat!" chuckles Murphy. "Now let's cook our dinner!" He says, followed by hungry cheers.
"Did you catch it?" I ask, turning to Kaytee.
"With my own two hands," she replies, holding up her hands and laughing. "Kidding. I killed her with my knife. I aimed carefully to make sure she didn't suffer much. And besides, I wouldn't have been able to chase her if I had missed. Murphy kept warning me that we shouldn't go too far, in case we stepped onto grounder territory."
"Yea," I say, giggling even though the memories from the grounder attack still haunt me. "I don't think Murphy would want to relive that."

Once the meat is ready to be cooked, it is placed over the large fire. The sky is filled with white, glimmering specks and practically all of camp is crowded around the fireplace, talking and laughing together.
Bellamy and I sit, my hand in his as we look at the stars, pointing out the planets and the galaxies.
"That's the Milky Way," I tell him, pointing to a crowd of faded white dots in the vast sky.
"Isn't milk a drink?" Asks Bellamy, his brow furrowed.
"Yea, it comes from cows. It's supposed to be white and smooth and sweet," I answer, remembering my dad reading me a story about a girl who wouldn't drink her milk. In the end, her bones were so weak that her arms were practically rubber.
"Sounds pretty good," he says.
"Yea, I think we're going to have to ask Kaytee to bring us back a cow next time," I say and he laughs.
I search through the crowd to find Kaytee. My eyes land on her red hair, but I can't see her face-it's pressed to Murphy's. One of her hands runs through his hair, and the corners of his mouth are curled up. Deciding to leave them some privacy, I turn back to Bellamy. "Maybe I'll ask her some other time."