THE FREE FALL ⇘ Bellamy Blake. [1]

| l. INTO THE THICK OF IT

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CHAPTER FIFTY;

INTO THE THICK OF IT.

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IF HAVEN COULD ENCAPSULATE ONE FEELING FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE—it would be the invigorating rush of evergreen inflating her lungs. The wilderness had become a distant memory during her confinement within the Mountain, and even now, her reacclimation lingered unfinished, tenuous. Yet—the sun's gentle caress, weaving warmth through her skin, seemed to momentarily ease the deep-seated ache in her bones. Mornings broke in hues of soft periwinkle, unfolding into the vast, velvet nights punctuated by the silver winks of distant stars. To breathe freely, unbound by the oppressive grip of a tomblike existence, was an unimaginable solace—a slow, resolute mending of her frayed edges.

Truthfully, Haven didn't know how she had managed to survive on a satellite orbiting through space for nearly twenty years. The Ark, for all its life-preserving sterility, was never a home . . . but a holding cell.

        The stars were unfathomably beautiful.

. . . But she was meant to be outside.

Soon enough, Haven and Bellamy had found themselves thrust into motion, their morning jolted alive by the double O's unceremonious entrance—Octavia tearing open the curtains to flood their room with light, while Orion enthusiastically launched herself onto their sofa bed, stripping the blankets away. With no time to linger on their abrupt awakening, they had hastily changed their clothes, armed themselves, and stepped out into the crisp morning air.

Apparently, Raven and Clarke managed to convince Abby to sanction a mission beyond the perimeters of Camp Jaha, aiming to locate and disable Mount Weather's radio tower. The approval, however, came with strings attached: Abby, along with a considerable contingent of the guard, insisted on joining the expedition. It was definitely not the freedom the group had hoped for, preferring the stealth of unsanctioned excursions . . . but it was a move forward nonetheless.

The inclusion of the guards, initially viewed as a colossal pain in the ass, had unexpectedly played to their advantage. With the group's size significantly increased, Haven and her friends found it simpler to meld into the sea of faces, their presence diluted among the many. However, this very advantage brought with it a paradoxical challenge—the more people involved, the more difficult it became to discreetly peel away from the group without drawing attention.

Because while Abby and the Council focused on circumventing the Mountain Men's radio interference, the core group was driven by a more desperate, personal agenda: to uncover another access point into Mount Weather besides the tunnels . . . and to save their missing friends.