𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

110. EMP

Silence enveloped the three of us as we made our way back to the group.

Octavia, who had thankfully decided to stay with us, sat up front, driving the Rover.

I sat in the back with Monty, carefully watching him as he stared down at the floor. He looked broken.

"I'm so sorry, Monty." I whispered, reaching out to place my hand over his own.

He looked up at me, his eyes teary. "I'm sorry that she hurt you." he whispered, his eyes focusing on my swollen eye and bruised face.

I felt my heartbreak...he just had to kill his own mother, yet he was apologizing to me?

"You have nothing to be sorry for." I promised, my voice firm, "Nothing at all."

Monty let out a small sniffled as he leaned into the side of me. "That wasn't really her." he whispered, it sounded like a mixture of a question and a statement. "It was ALIE." He cleared his throat. "My mom was already gone." he announced, and it now became clear he was trying to convince himself. "She was already gone."

---

When we returned to where the rest of our friends were, we were met with the sight of Bellamy and the Grounder woman -Niylah-standing outside, seemingly in some sort of discussion.

Upon our arrival, Niylah turned, swiftly making her way inside just as Jasper was making his way outside.

I pulled my attention away from them for a moment, instead focusing on grabbing the pack and handing it to Monty who was waiting outside of the Rover. He took the bag, wordlessly beginning to make his way toward the hut.

Octavia and I followed, all of our faces somber and bruised as we approached our Bellamy and Jasper.

Monty moved past them, barely giving them a second look as he disappeared inside. It didn't take a mind reader to figure out that something had gone wrong on our trip to the Dropship.

Bellamy beat Jasper to the punch in inquiring about our journey. "What happened?" he demanded, his eyes flickering between Octavia and I.

My best friend shifted slightly, glancing at her brother before looking to Jasper. She didn't say anything, but the look on her face gave away enough for Jasper to know his best friend needed him.

His shoulders fell ever so slightly as he nodded at Octavia, the two of them then beginning to make their way inside.

I went to follow, my head down as I tried to pass Bellamy. He didn't let me get very far.

His hand shot out to lightly grab a hold of my arm, effectively holding me in place. "Are you okay?" he whispered, his voice soft and full of worry.

I cleared my throat, working up the nerve to look up at him. When I did, I felt my heart soften ever so slightly. The look he was giving me made it really hard to be mad at him. But as hard as it was, there was no denying my anger. "I'm fine." I muttered, moving to free myself from his grasp. "We should get inside."

Surprisingly, Bellamy didn't put up a fight, but instead gave a small nod before following me toward the entrance. I was conscious of how close he was standing to me as we made our way to the back, his presence causing my body to buzz.

I was shaken from my thoughts as a yell from Sinclair carried throughout the room. "Hold her arms down!" he ordered to Monty who was struggling against a resisting Raven.

She thrashed around, similar to how she had when we first tried to restrain her. It seemed that ALIE was nervous about us actually succeeding in getting this thing out of Raven's head.