Into The Woods- Bellamy Blake

Chapter 51

"Can I have your attention, please!" Ember yelled She had given everyone enough time to mourn and regret over what they had done. She didn't want to be Commander, and only a select few knew she had the Flame, but nobody else was stepping up, so she had to.

Everyone in the room went quiet, looking up at Ember. A few people whispered to each other, grounders who were confused about why Ember was back in Polis. "I know many of you are confused." She addressed the room in Trigedasleng to make the grounders more comfortable with the people in the room. She was positive they recognized Bellamy as part of Pike's army since he was wearing his guard jacket and thought of the people that were dead. Were they still technically at war? Ember wasn't sure.

Ember took a breath, keeping her head high. "With the chip destroyed, it's up to us to clean up after Alie's mess. Starting with the people restrained on crosses out on the streets. These people have are victims of Alie's cruelty, as are all of you." She wasn't sure what she was doing. All she was doing was going on instinct. "Spread the word to those outside of this room that we'll be cleaning up and restoring this city to its former glory."

"How do we get down? The elevator has been destroyed."

Ember glanced out the balcony, now she was really glad that she wasn't afraid of heights. "The same way you guys got up. Follow my lead." Leading by example and not being telling was something she was good at, and thankfully that's what the grounders respected.

None of them knew she had the Flame, but they all respected her anyways. Bellamy was the first to follow Ember's lead, both heading to the balcony. Ember took a deep breath then climbed to the other side. A fall from this height would definitely kill her, she would know, she killed someone by pushing them off from here.

She was following orders. It was normal for any soldier, for any leader, she quickly reminded herself. The woman wanted to dethrone Lexa, the rightful Commander. She moved to the side and made sure she found a good place for her foot to rest, and then slowly made her way down the town.

Almost an hour later, she was finally on the ground, one of the firsts. A few people had beaten her, people with more experience climbing than her, people who had just climbed up there.

Glancing down at the ground, the first thing that Ember saw was a man with a bullet in his brain. There was a pile of bodies that the grounders who had beaten her down moved, a pile that would later be set on fire.

Bellamy jumped down and immediately started looking around for his sister. "She'll be okay," Ember said, placing her hand on his arm gently. "If anyone can take care of themselves, it's Octavia."

He shook his head. "That's not what I'm worried about."

After a moment, Ember realized what he was talking about, and she shook her head quickly. "She won't be charged. Everyone will say that Pike had it coming."

"Maybe we all do," Bellamy said, clearing his throat.

Ember turned her head and looked at all the grounders. People were hugging each other, and others were helping the chained grounders get down. Innocents. People caught up in a war they didn't need to fight in. Alie had messed with everyone. "How do we tell these people that the world is ending after everything they've been through?"

"We don't. Not until we know Alie was telling you the truth." On the way down, Ember had kept conversation with Bellamy by explaining to him what had happened during the time she had been chipped. She knew her experience would be different than others, but for her it was bad enough. She couldn't imagine being chipped without the Flame.