Fearless (Bellamy Blake - Book 1)

Chapter 45

I had gotten used to the nocturnal kids around camp, their chatter and the flickering light of the fire has become a given down here, but one thing I will not tolerate is Bellamy fricking Blake waking me up at an ungodly hour. 

"Hey." I feel someone shake my body, but I groan and flip onto the other side of the bed, trying to ignore them. "Carter." The voice says, a lot firmer than before. 

My brain can register that it's Bellamy, I'm just too tired to actually get up. He starts to get fed up, but he doesn't let up, and continues to shake me a lot harder, his voice raising. 

"Carter!" 

"Ugh, what?!" I groan and abruptly sit up and face him, my eyes squinting at the torch he holds in his hand. "You better have a good reason for waking me up, Blake."

"I can't find Octavia." He tells me, and when I open my mouth to say that he should just give her space, he beats me to it. "I know what you said but I've looked all over camp and no one has a seen her all day. I'm worried."

I look into his eyes and see genuine worry, which strikes something within me, causing me to sigh and nod. "All right, what do you want me to do?"

Bellamy gives me a small, tight smile, as a thank you. "We're going out to find her, gear up."

I nod again and he leaves my tent, giving me a clear view of a large group of people milling about camp gathering supplies. It's still dark out which saddens me since it means I only had a few hours sleep. I quickly shove on my boots and tie the laces up tight, somehow feeling it's going to be a long night. 

Once I've grabbed my axe and emerge from my tent and stand before the other tents just as Bellamy arrives and calls out for everyone's attention. 

"Hey everyone, gather around and grab a weapon." He dumps a cover full of axes, knifes and spears onto the ground. "My sister's been out there alone for twelve hours. Arm up, we're not coming back without her."  Everyone silently reaches down and takes their weapon of choice and I help myself to another axe, just to be sure, and attach it to the other side of my belt. 

"Hey, Jasper." I turn my head to see Clarke standing before the boy in question with a frown on her face. "You don't have to do this. You haven't left camp since we brought you back." 

"We need all the people we can get." Bellamy says firmly, his arms folded across his chest. He gives Jasper a hard look, as if daring him to back down, and I walk towards them just as Jasper nods and walks away. 

"We need a tracker." Bellamy says to Clarke, looking up as I approach. "Finn! Get out here."

"Are you coming with us?" I ask Clarke, she gives me a blank look and doesn't reply, she's clearly still pissed about the radio. 

"All right," Bellamy notices the tension between us and turns to me, "ready?" I give him a nod which he returns. "Finn, we're leaving!"

He ushers the group over to the main area of the camp, towards the gate and I follow. 

"So where exactly--"

"Guys, guys, come here!" Some kid cuts me off and points up to the sky. 

"What is that?" 

"Wow!"

"Do you see that?"

"It's beautiful."

I stop walking, Bellamy beside me as we look up at the meteor shower above us, the kids around us chattering in awe.

"They didn't work." I look back down at eye level to Raven as she makes her way through the crowd. "They didn't see the flares."

I frown at her as Bellamy voices, "A meteor shower tells you that?"

"It's not a meteor shower, it's a funeral." Clarke says, and my jaw clenches as I understand. "Hundreds of bodies being returned to the Earth from the Ark. This is what it looks like from the other side."

"Well it's the prettiest funeral I've ever been to." I say.

"Are you kidding me? This is all your fault!" Raven stalks forward and lunges herself at me but I deflect her and push her away before Finn and Bellamy grab a hold of us, pulling us apart. 

"I helped you find the radio!" I yell at her.

"After you jacked it from my pod and trashed it!"

"Hey, this is on both of us!" Bellamy says from behind me, keeping my arms in a firm grip. 

Raven scoffs. "Yeah, what a perfect duo you two make. This all could have been avoided. Those people could still be alive right now!" 

"Yeah, they know." Clarke says, standing before Raven with a hard look on her face. "They know, and now they have to live with it."

Finn lets go of Raven, who continues to glare at me but stands still, and Bellamy still keeps a hand around my arm. 

"All I know is that my sister is out there and I'm gonna find her. You coming or what?" He asks Finn, who nods. "Come on, Trouble." 

I pull my arm from Bellamy's grip and walk away, a sour look on my face as I snatch a torch from some kids hand and start to walk through the woods away from camp.