From The Ashes | The 100 S5 [Bellarke]

|15| The Storm

For one moment, Bellamy didn't recognize the dull, rumbling noise that shook through their cell walls. His first thought was that, for some reason, the colonists were taking off. But the ship hadn't moved; there was only that sound, reminiscent and thunderous . . . oh.

"Is that . . . thunder?" Wick said, tilting his head.

The corner of Bellamy's mouth lifted in a wry humor that was also touched with sadness. He had forgotten what thunder sounded like, so used to the silent hum of space. Even though he was trapped once again by metal walls, the closure felt . . . normal. Thinking about the vastness of Earth was refreshing, but also alien once more.

"I wonder if there's still black rain," Murphy drawled, idly inspecting the raw bruises on his knuckles from his blows to the unmarred door. "I hope so. I hope these assholes get their faces melted off."

"Black rain isn't acid rain," Monty corrected a moment later, clearly unable to let Murphy dwell in ignorance. "It's possible there's still enough radiation in the atmosphere to allow for random irradiated storms, but I doubt it. It's really only a precursor to–"

"Thanks, professor," Murphy interrupted, rolling his eyes. "I get the point."

The only thing Bellamy had on his mind was what had happened to make the screams stop. He didn't want to think about the possibility of death – not yet – but it lurked in the edges of his thoughts, undeniable and inescapable. Whoever it was, it only gave more proof to the fact that the colonists were, for now, the enemy.

"I'm starving," Wick muttered, tipping his head back against the wall where he was sprawled almost lazily in a corner. "We've been, what, almost two days in this room? And no one's come to feed us, let alone check on us."

"They don't need to walk in to get a look-see," Murphy said, raising his hand and pointing at the ceiling above Wick. "Wait for it . . . now!"

Bellamy looked up just in time to see a small red light flashed on, ominous in its unobtrusiveness. Ah, of course. They were already being watched.

Another burst of thunder sounded, this time its power felt as a minuscule tremor in the walls. A shiver rolled up Bellamy's spine at the sensation – awe at the natural ferocity of Earth, and unease at the quiet that followed. The silence where the screams had once ruled was oppressive, and not even the thunder could shake the feeling of dread that sat cold and heavy in Bellamy's stomach.

~ ~ ~

The sky was bruise colored when Madi stopped the rover just inside the tree-line of the forest. The ominous yellow-green tint to the air cast the stranger's camp in an ugly light, like the truth of it was laid bare to the world. Thunder rolled overhead, and the strength of it rattled her bones.

The oncoming storm was rising quickly, and Madi knew it was going to be a nasty one.

Taking a deep breath, she suddenly accelerated, the rover shooting out from the cover of the forest and speeding towards the stranger's camp. Wind battered at the metal sides, jerking the wheel beneath her hand. Madi had to keep a tight, strong grip on the steering to stay on course, which was a collision with the camp's gates.

"I will not be afraid," she said, just before the rover crashed into the gates.

~ ~ ~

The harsh wind battered at Clarke as she left the colonist's ship through the small hatch Icarus had given her instructions to. The morning sky was dark and angry, the night shifting into day with merely a dirty gray light to mark the difference. The building storm was sudden, but that was Earth now.