Shoelaces (A Bellamy Blake Fanfiction)

15 - Good As New

A week later, Sophia woke up.

Her eyes rolled open and she sucked in a deep breath. It spread through her like fire, leaving behind relief and energy in its wake. 

The world slowly came into focus, revealing a cold grey ceiling above her. For a moment, dread seeped through her, grey taking over her the pink flush to her cheeks. She was back on the Ark, back in her cell. Every ounce of hope, of possibility, that she had collected in her time on the ground evaporated into an invisible cloud of nothingness. She rolled onto her side, rolling her eyes. 

She should have known. She should have guessed. It had all just been a dream, a horrible figment of her imagination that had gotten her hopes up. 

Great.

"You're awake." Sophia's eyes rolled onto the face of a young brunette girl, whose features were quickly becoming as familiar to her as her own.  The girl smiled, climbing quickly to her feet and racing to her side. "How do you feel?"

"Good." Sophia whispered, her eyebrows furrowed. So it was real, then? It wasn't a dream? She really was free. Relief flooded through her once again, pulling up the edges of her mouth. 

"Thank God. You gave us all multiple heart attacks for a while there, Soph," Octavia admitted as she helped her friend into a sitting position. 

"Sorry about that." 

"You should be." When Sophia looked over at her friend, her lips were curved up in a smile. "I'm really glad you're okay."

"Me, too." Sophia reached out to gently rub Octavia's arm, relieved to be back with the conscious. 

"Oh my God." The two girls turned to see Clarke standing at the mouth of the drop ship, her eyes wide with a haunting kind of relief. It was almost like everything she was, her sanity, was relying on Sophia recovering. 

But, why?

"Hey, Clarke." She smiled, watching as they girl's stupor broke and she half ran towards her. She collapsed to her knees beside Sophia, wrapping her arms tightly around her shoulders.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She blurted as Sophia winced in pain. "Sorry. Sorry." Clarke released her hold and sat back, her eyes glistening in the dull drop ship light.

"It's okay. Of course I'm okay." She looked between the two girls, her eyes noticing the subtle gloom that hid in both of their eyes. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, totally." Clarke was way too fast to reply, but there was something in her tone that begged her not to ask about it. At least not yet.

"Okay," she drew the word out, letting the two know that she didn't believe them. "When can I get out of here?" She asked, her eyes moving to Clarke.

"Depends on how you're feeling, how your wound is healing."

"Well, I feel fine. Good, actually." Sophia said honestly.

"Then, let me check your shoulder and get some food into you, okay? Then maybe I'll let you out." She smiled, but it didn't reach her face. Sophia didn't say anything about it. She just nodded and let her excitement to see the sky build up inside of her. 

***

2 hours later, Sophia stepped out of the drop ship, her eyes momentarily blinded by the brightness of the sun. When they cleared, she saw exactly what she had been wanting to see; the pristine blue sky, tall green trees, and the bustling, busy sight of camp. 

She had never been so relieved to see a camp full of criminals in her life. They all went about their usual daily activities in varying states of enjoyment; some were smiling, others laughing, and some seemed gloomy and annoyed. But they all kept on, knowing that if they didn't, they wouldn't last much longer. Because it took all of them to keep the camp up. It took all of them to keep going, to stay alive.