ATARAXIA • BELLAMY BLAKE

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Some shuffling and a jangle of keys could be heard in the hallway just outside of the front door.

"Here he comes," said Aurora.

The knob turned and in walked Bellamy, all suited up in his new gear. "Hey," he greeted, not looking their way as he shrugged off his jacket.

"How did it go?" asked Octavia excitedly.

Only then did Bellamy notice how all three of the girls were lined up, practically bursting to know how his first day as a cadet had gone.

He smiled. "Are you kidding? I'm ready for my gun already," he said cockily, earning a smack on the chest from Freya.

"That's not funny, Bellamy," said Aurora. She had always been very wary of the thought of him carrying a weapon, even as a future guardsman. She switched her gaze to send Freya a concerned look. "He's not getting a gun, is he?"

Freya waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, Aurora, you already know he'd never hurt a fly."

But Aurora didn't relax in the slightest. Instead she repeated herself, a bit firmer. "Is he?"

"Of course not!" assured Freya. "I don't even have a gun yet."

Aurora let out an exasperated breath at the 'yet', retreating to sit down on a chair to calm herself.

"Hey." Freya tugged at the fabric at the bottom of Bellamy's shirt sleeve to gain his attention which had been set on Aurora, an amused smirk played at his lips. "Did you see Jaime today?"

She had been given the day off and had been bummed about not getting to show him the ropes herself.

"Who?" puzzled Bellamy quickly.

"Jaime," repeated Freya with a frown. "The guy I went to school with. He's in the Guard too, remember?"

"Oh, him," said Bellamy with a hint of disinterest. "No, I didn't see him."

"That's too bad," she said. "He's been really nice and welcoming to me, you know." Bellamy nodded wordlessly before hanging his jacket on the wall. "I think you'd like him."

Bellamy held back a scoff and pushed a stray piece of hair back behind Freya's ear before wrapping an arm around her shoulder, leading her towards the living area. "I'm sure I would."

•••

"Freya, get up," Octavia shakes me awake.

After I by some miracle managed to find my way to camp through the woods, Octavia had been the one to tell me that Jasper accidentally had fried all of the delinquents' wristbands, which means the Ark now thinks we're all dead. I had gone straight to bed.

I'd wanted nothing more than to avoid the thought of Jaime thinking that I'm dead as much as the thought of the news delighting my father. The Ark thinking we're dead also means that we won't be getting any help from them, meaning we will probably all die soon. Needless to say, I'm not feeling too optimistic. And so I had gone to bed. Sleep the pain away, they say. 'They' being myself.

"O, what the hell?" I mutter tiredly as Octavia throws my boots at me.

"Hurry, you've gotta see this," she says, rushing out of the tent.

Curious as to what's going on, I swiftly throw the boots on and quickly pull on my sweater before heading outside.

I settle next to Octavia and follow her gaze to the sky. Something is flying our way.