Conflate | Bellamy Blake ¹ ✓

✯ | chapter sixteen

❝you don't forget the face of the person who was your last hope.❞

-katniss everdeen, the hunger games

♛

GROUNDER APPAREL IS VERY heavy. Lincoln had us dress in it before we left Tondc, and I feel strange in the many garments that pull my body down until I feel like I'm being sucked into the earth itself.

But there's a plus: Bellamy looks hot in it. I think it's the armor and fingerless gloves that make me unable to stop staring.

Lincoln slides down a steep slope of soil to get to the deer he just speared. The dead animal is stuck to the ground from it, the weapon sliced cleanly through its side. While he kneels to inspect it, I find myself looking around in every direction as if I expect someone to be right behind us.

Clarke's words are still echoing in my head. I was being weak. Good luck. I had hugged everyone goodbye before I left - except Kane, whom I gave a handshake because we aren't really there yet - and it felt wrong that she wasn't there. Like there was a chunk of me missing.

When I look down, Lincoln is smearing his face with the deer's blood, rubbing it all around his mouth, chin, and neck. I feel a bit squeamish knowing I'll probably have to do the same.

Bellamy kneels beside Lincoln and pulls me down with him so I can hear. "Okay. So we make it to the intake door without any of the real Reapers seeing us. What happens then?"

It had been Lincoln's idea to disguise ourselves as Reapers, of course. The thought wouldn't even have crossed my mind if we were going solo. Having him around was like a blessing, even if he was being uncharacteristically quiet since we were headed to the place he hated the most.

"I kill everyone, and you two slip inside," Lincoln deadpans.

Ah, yes. A...very blunt blessing.

"Limestone," Lincoln says. I grab it from one of the many pockets of my black jacket and hand the small pouch to him. He dips his fingers inside until they're covered in white, smearing it diagonally across his face from where his hairline would be to the left side of his jawline. Then, he closes the pouch back up and stands. "Let's go. We have a lot more ground to cover before dark."

"No deer blood for me?" I question beneath my breath before getting to my feet as well. Then, loud enough for him to hear, I say, "We should probably know what's after the intake door."

"They remove your clothes," Lincoln replies. "Blast you with boiling water, then douse you with something that burns even worse. And then we were sorted. The others were tagged 'harvest.' I was tagged 'Cerberus,' turned into a Reaper."

I feel a chill go down my spine. It sounds like we're in for a real treat at Casa de Mount Weather.

"Cerberus," Bellamy repeats. "The three-headed dog that guards the underworld."

I smile at him, while Lincoln just gives him a questioning look. It's so cute when he geeks out about Greek myths and history.

"My mom read mythology to us all the time," he explains. "Octavia loved it." Lincoln blows air through his mouth and smiles. "You're good for her. You made her strong."

"She was already strong," Lincoln replies, and I notice he isn't smiling anymore.

Bellamy stops walking, causing me to stop short. "Bell?"