𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 | bellamy blake¹

↬ | chapter nineteen

   "Have you spoken to your father?" Emerson finally spoke up, causing Maggie to regain interest in the two men who, to be completely honest, bored the hell out of her. "He can't be on board with this."

   The other guy cocked his head slightly at the guard in front of him. "Emerson. Are you still with me?"

   "Of course, sir."

   With a stiff nod, he settled back into the large chair, which was very extravagant and appeared as though it was in some kind of palace prior to the nuclear apocalypse nearly a century ago. "Good. As for my father, it's no secret he doesn't agree with my— choices. Trust me, once we're on the ground, he'll thank me. Besides which—" the nameless man took a glance at a name tag at the head of the table labeled 'Dante Wallace: Mount Weather President.' With a sickly grin, he grabbed it with the tips of fingers and tossed it into a trashcan. "He's not in charge anymore. I am; Cage Wallace, Mount Weather President. It has a nice ring to it."

   Maggie's heart sunk at the last of the man— Cage's— statement. Truth be told, it did make sense. Perhaps the inhumane procedures were occurring with the delinquents while Dante was still in command, but he wasn't aware of the severity of the situation. But, under Cage's rule, that meant he could freely lead the mini rebellion without having to keep it under wraps. He was in charge now, and that was a scary thing to grasp.

   If Dante wasn't there, then where was he?

   "I'm just saying, sir," the Lieutenant continued, some of his doubts still evident, "You know I'm on your side here. After Andrea, it's just—"

   "Don't bring up Andrea," Cage immediately snapped, his fists slamming against the table in downright acrimony. His eyes seemed to laser into Emerson's skull, carving two clean-cut holes right through it. "I don't care if he hates me more than he already does. I'm draining those kids of their bone marrow, and I'm getting our people to the ground! Andrea never would've done that!"

   Magnolia continued to horn in on their conversation, but not much else meaningful information was spoken. Everything she heard, she already knew of. Listening in only resulted in more questions than she had before, which she wasn't sure whether to consider as a good thing or a bad one. Tip-toeing back to the ladder, she prayed that Raven was still there and avidly paying attention.

   "Ra—"

   "I heard," she sourly finished the thought, seeming just as frustrated as Maggie herself. To be fair, hearing the man casually discuss killing all of their friends to their own benefit didn't exactly make for the best first impression. "Who's Andrea?"

   "Don't ask me; I couldn't tell you," Magnolia muttered, not having any clue.

   "Hey, where are you?" another voice suddenly came through, interrupting the girls' conversation.

   "I'm— at the bottom, level 7," the brunette replied, remembering the general layout of the facility. "You? Are you alright? Did you see our friends?" she fired multiple questions at the boy rapidly, not even realizing she was doing so.

   "I'm fine. I'm with Maya," Bellamy explained, his voice sounding pretty calm, unlike her own. "Our friends, not so much. It's worse than we thought— I gave Jasper a gun, but it won't do too much."

   "A gun?"

   "Yes, a gun."

   "Okay— good, good. Do you still have your gun?"

   "Yes, I still have my gun," Bellamy answered in the sort of tone one would use to speak to their parents in, "Did you know Dante's not in command anymore, I mean—"