𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞²

52. warnings

Quietly, and slightly on edge, we climbed up the stairs, eager to see what was at the top.

As we reached the final one, it felt like my breath had been taken away. If what we had seen of the planet already was beautiful...this was spectacular.

A large structure sat in the middle of our view, towering over the rest of the space which was littered with smaller buildings. Bright, beautiful colours lit up the area, instantly causing me to smile.

"They have a castle." Murphy observed, a sly grin coming to his face.

Bellamy looked down at me with a hopeful smile. We now knew that life was survivable down here, so maybe this was our chance to make Monty and Shaw proud.

"It looks abandoned." Echo observed as we all walked further into the centre of the settlement while slightly on edge.

I nodded, running my hand over a plant as I walked by it. "You'd think they would have sent someone down the minute we disarmed the shield."

"Maybe there's not enough of them?" Bellamy wondered. "Or maybe they don't have an guards? Assumption is they're the only civilization on this planet."

I shrugged, shaking my head as we neared the palace. "It's possible."

He nodded as he dropped his bag, keeping a hold on his gun. "We'll go door-to-door. See if anyone's here. Everyone stay sharp- but don't fire unless absolutely needed."

No one objected, and for the next twenty minutes Miller, Jackson and Murphy knocked on every door in the main part of the settlement, not a single one receiving an answer.

The rest of us milled around the palace, trying to learn as much about this place as possible. It seemed well developed. Beautiful gardens lined the pond that centred the space. Communal gathering places were dotted around, signalling that this community was tight-knit.

"Look." Emori pointed out, giving me a small nudge while pointing to a string of flags that was hung off one of the buildings.

I glanced up at it, as did the others in our group. I recognized the symbol, it was one that was hard to forget.

"ALIE?" Emori wondered as Clarke and Bellamy arrived next to us.

I squinted under the sun, looking over at Clarke who shook her head. "I--" she cut herself off for a moment before a look of recognition came across her face. "Becca did the tech for Eligius."

"Right." Bellamy muttered. "Destroy the world, 200 years later, they put you on a flag. See?" he mused in sarcasm. "Hope for us yet."

I gave him a small smile as I let out a little laugh. "Thank God." I mumbled, turning as Murphy's voice caught my attention.

"Hello?" He called, rapping his fists against one of the doors. "Invaders from Earth! Can we come in?"

"John!" Emori snapped, turning to him with urgency. "Keep it down."

Turning away from the building, Murphy started toward the next door. "I don't know why we're knocking. Gone door to door, and no one's here."

"We don't know that for sure." I argued, glancing around for any sign of another's presence.

"These are people's homes." Bellamy pointed out. "We're not breaking in like thieves."

"Bellamy's right." Clarke agreed. "If we want to do better here, we can't be just--"

Her moral goodness speech was promptly cut off by a loud banging sound as Murphy drove his foot into one of the doors, sending it flying open.

"You were saying?" I muttered, turning to Clarke with raised brows. She pushed her lips into a firm line as Murphy turned to us with a pleased smile.