ATARAXIA • BELLAMY BLAKE

[ 4 7 ]

"Bellamy, where're you at?" I ask over the radio, releasing the button to hear his response.

"Almost there," he replies, his voice strained from crawling his way through the vents.

We bought our friends some time by irradiating level five, but it's only a matter of time before the breach is contained or the Mountain Men send in another raid, this time wearing protective suits. We'd jumped straight back into the vents to move on to the next step of our plan which currently merely consists of meeting up with Maya as scheduled on level three.

Bellamy and I had separated in the vents so that he could go get his protective gear and change into it. Another raid is bound to happen, and although Bellamy told Jasper to fight back to hold them off, we can't be certain that they won't take another one of our friends in the chaos.

Monty must have worked his magic from inside the dorm room, because the elevators are disabled and most stairways are inaccessible on level five due to the locks having been short-circuited.

Maya and I wait in a small janitor closet, having given Bellamy directions on how to find it through the vents. I'm wearing the same grey cap that I had on when Maya first found us, just in case someone walks in.

"All right, I'm here," I hear over my radio, a lower, more muffled sound echoing just behind me, and I turn around to peel off the cover of the vent that Maya and I have been waiting by.

We step aside and let Bellamy crawl out in his heavy getup. That can't have been comfortable to crawl around in.

Before any of us can say anything, Bellamy's Mount Weather walkie starts going off with chatter, and it catches all of our attention when we hear they're setting another raid in motion. Bellamy doesn't waste a second before heading straight for the door to the closet.

I quickly follow after, subtly scoping my surroundings for any Mountain Men when exiting the closet. "What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know, I just have to be there," Bellamy says from behind his large helmet.

Maya and I almost have to run to catch up to his fast pace. "You gotta be careful. You told them to fight back, they're gonna go for the kill," I warn him.

"Then I'll stay at the back." He stops, making Maya and I do the same, and extends a decided hand in front of him, looking at us seriously. "You guys stay here on the level, okay? If the Mountain Men do end up taking another one of our friends, find out where they're taking them."

I nod, "I'll jump back into the vents," I say, thinking our previous knowledge of which vents lead to said room can help us navigate to it through the hallways.

"No. No vents," he says, and I almost think I heard him wrong.

"What—"

"Jumping in and out of vents takes up too much time—time that we don't have right now—"

"I can't just strut around the hallways in a mountain where everyone knows everyone and all outsiders get turned into human blood bags."

"Be that girl—"

"Talia," Maya offers.

"Right," Bellamy says, distractedly gesturing in her direction. "Talia."