I'm Just A Kid

Chapter 3: Not Alone

By the time Wells and I returned to camp, the excitement had almost completely disappeared. The fire had burned down to a bed of glowing embers, occasionally sending a tiny spark floating into the darkness, and people were scattered across the forest floor wherever exhaustion had finally caught up with them. Some were curled into little groups, sharing blankets and leaning against one another, while others had simply fallen asleep on the dirt. After everything that had happened that day, I supposed nobody cared whether the ground was comfortable anymore. I found a reasonably dry patch beneath a tree and sat down, pulling my knees toward my chest.

I tried to sleep. I really did. I closed my eyes. Opened them. Turned onto my side. Turned onto my back. Pulled my jacket tighter around myself. Nothing worked. My brain refused to shut up. I thought about the Ark. My mother. My father. The strange noises in the forest. The fact that we were apparently completely alone. The fact that nobody knew what was out there. Every time I closed my eyes, I imagined something moving between the trees.

Eventually, I gave up. I lay flat on my back and stared upward. The trees here didn't glow like the artificial lights on the Ark. They were dark silhouettes against a sky filled with more stars which somehow looked pretty as I was under them, instead of beside them. There were so many of them that it almost felt like the entire universe had opened above me.

Quietly I breathe out, until I heard something. Turning my head, at first I thought it was someone moving around in their sleep. Then I heard another sound. Footsteps. My eyes narrowed. Something moved near the trees.

I pushed myself upright, careful not to wake anyone around me. A figure emerged from the darkness. Wells. Bellamy was with him. My stomach immediately tightened. Why would Bellamy be with Wells somewhere at this time of night?

I stood slowly. I knew I should stay where I was. Instead, I followed.

I kept well behind them, slipping between the trees and making sure my footsteps stayed quiet. The further we went, the less I could hear the camp. Eventually, the firelight disappeared completely.

I crouched behind a thick tree trunk. Wells and Bellamy stopped ahead of me in an open patch of land. Bellamy had a gun. Although he wasn't holding it against Wells, he didn't need to. He simply held it at his side, and somehow that was enough to make the threat obvious.

Bellamy continued walking, leaving Wells to follow. Wells glanced around the forest, searching for anything or anyone.

Wells froze. Then I saw what was behind them. Two freshly filled graves. My heart sank. They'd buried the two people who hadn't survived the landing. Wells stared at them, and even from where I was hiding, I could see him swallow. Bellamy turned toward him.

"I guess we got more in common than meets the eye, huh? We both came down here to protect someone we love... and neither one of them appreciates it."

Bellamy laughed.

Wells didn't.

His eyes moved toward the gun again, this time Bellamy noticed. He calmly lifted it so there was no mistaking what it meant.

"I don't wanna shoot you, Wells. Hell, I like you." He pointed the gun upward toward the sky.

"But I do need them to think you're dead."

My stomach twisted. The Ark. His wristband. Wells's face hardened. We both realised what this was about

"Why? Why are you doing this? For real. Not some crap about getting to do what you want to do."

Bellamy paused.

"I have my reasons. I also have the gun. Which means I ask the questions, and the question is... why aren't you helping me? Your father banished you, Wells. Yet here you are still doing his bidding. Following the rules. Aren't you tired of always doing what's expected of you? Stand up to him. Take off your wristband. You'll be amazed how good it feels."