Copper

Chapter Twenty Six

"The Commander, The Primes, The Sheppard- at least the murderous mining convicts had democracy."

"I'm not doing that."

"Amuse me."

"How about no?"

"Avery- pick up the damn gardening tool!"

"Gabriel!" Hope hisses wide-eyed and urging him to lower his tone "We can't give the Disciple more reason to be wary of us."

"Yeah Gabriel" I smugly smirk upwards, a patronising smile curling on my lips at his dropped victimised jaw "Stop causing a scene."

"But-I-I-No" Gabriel jabs the shovel further near me, maintaining the argument "Help us or you don't get to eat it."

Rolling my eyes I snatch the shovel knowing damn well he could try. A day has past and my stomach is beginning to clench. The faster we grow some nutrients the better off we'll be. I have no desire to eat the weird fish. Muttering curses under my breath I take to a separate garden bed in the hopes to salvage what vegetation we can. With multiple overgrown gardens beds work needs to be done to cut them back into something that cant feed us for five years. "Once I welding a ginormous ship together to protect us from a radioactive wave that would destroy Earth and every life on it", I mutter to myself, driving the shovel into the soil "Now look at me. Reduced to Gordon Ramsey's gardening hoe." Noticing the tool off to the side, I crack a smile to myself and giggle "Hoe."

"What are you?" Gabriel must've heard my joke, grunting when he pulls a stake from his and Hope's garden "Two?"

"What are you? Two hundred?" I mock right back, covering my lips tauntingly when Gabriel's expression morphs into something of disapproval "Topic still a little raw?"

Gabriel driving the shovel furiously back into the dirt beside Hope, she crouches with a tight-lipped smile that is very obviously for the show "That's the family spirit."

"Family my ass", I mumble, bending to tug a large clump of grass from the vegetable bed. Tossing it aside I notice Echo's still remained off to the side. That's all she's seemed to do since first light. Standing and staring as though Echo's lost in her own thoughts. I'm not completely oblivious. I know exactly what Bellamy means to her. That doesn't just vanish into nothing, no matter how strong his feelings are towards me. I'm not naïve enough to think the same can't be said for Echo. "Staring at that tree isn't going to make time move faster", I raise my voice, Echo tilting her head to spare me an uncaring look over her shoulder. Ignoring it, I twirl the shovel in my hands "Busy hands. Busy mind."