the world as we know it -- bellarke au

chapter twelve - behind closed doors

c l a r k e   g r i f f i n

For just a minute, we were frozen. Bellamy stared at the ground, and I stared at him. I was thrown back in time, to the grounder disease that struck our camp, and how quickly it had spread. Bellamy needed to get to the medical unit. He needed to be treated. 

He seemed to have other ideas. Before I could get to him, he ducked behind my door and slammed it shut. 

I heard the lock click. 

"Bellamy," I said, pulling on the door handle. "What're you doing?"

"I started my guard training today," he said through the door. "I was outside. We must've--- I must've been in contact with one of the grounder diseases. Get away from the door, Clarke."

"Bellamy, unlock the door," I said. 

He started to cough, a thick, deep cough, like his lungs were coated in blood. 

"Bellamy," I said desperately. "You need to get to medical. There's fluid in your lungs. Open the door."

"No," he said. I heard him slide down to the floor, still coughing. 

My heart had started to race. "Bellamy, I'm serious. You'll die. Open the door. Let me help you."

"I'm not getting you sick," he said. 

"There's a puddle of blood on the floor! And we've been talking for the last ten minutes. If you're getting me sick, it's already happened. Please." 

I had started to cry. Partly out of frustration, and partly due to worry. 

"I'm not opening the door," Bellamy said quietly. 

And so I started to yell. 

"Help!" I cried, still trying to pull on the handle. He was being an idiot --- a smart idiot, but still an idiot. He'd been out all day, and he would've been contagious the entire time. It was noble, locking himself in there, but it would just end up with him dead, and the disease still spreading around Mount Weather. 

I wasn't going to let him die trying to be a hero.

"Help!" I tried again, banging on the door. "Bellamy, please. Please let me in."

He didn't say anything. 

My heart froze. "Bellamy?" I hit the door a few times. "Say something. Bellamy!"

My head had started to spin. But there were people at the end of the hallway --- people who could help. They had to have a key. 

"Clarke," President Wallace's voice said. "Good, you're---" He stopped when he saw the puddle of blood on the floor. 

"Bellamy," I said, my voice thick with tears. "He locked himself in my room, I--- I don't know what to---"

"We've just been with Dr. Singh and her assistant," Wallace said. "She's just been put into isolation. You two were with her in the medical lab, yes?"

"Yes, but---"

"You have to isolate as well," President Wallace said, beckoning to two individuals behind him. They were dressed head to toe in protective gear, and started to clean up the spill. "We believe the disease is spread through contact. You'll have to remain in your room."

"Bellamy is in my room," I sobbed. "He won't let me in. He's not answering, I---"

"You should isolate separately in case---"

"No," I said. "I need to help him. Please let me help him."

President Wallace hesitated, then pulled a key ring from his back pocket and handed it to one of the men in suits. He used it to unlock the door, and I pushed my way inside.