Karma - Bellamy Blake

9. Radio Riots

"Shut up." Bellamy snapped, leaving no room for argument as he silenced Raven. What else could he have done now, I thought to myself in irritation.

"What are you talking about?" I asked turning to face Raven as I noticed Bellamy's body tense in my peripheral.

"He shot Chancellor Jaha." Raven replied pointedly as I watched as everyone's heads snapped to face Bellamy, the gravity of the accusation sinking in with each passing moment. My mind raced back to the night in the cave, when Bellamy had tried to confess his actions to me, and suddenly everything clicked into place. 

Part of me couldn't blame him for his actions, Jaha ruined so many lives including mine. But it was the choices Bellamy had made afterwards, the lengths he had gone to in order to protect himself from the consequences of his actions that I blamed him for. 

"That's why you took the wristbands... Needed everyone to think we were dead." Clarke replied slowly piecing everything together. I felt a twinge of guilt at Clarke's words, knowing that the truth behind the wristbands was far more complex than she realized. I decided it was probably for the best that she didn't find out that taking the wristbands off was my idea initially.

"And 'whatever the hell we want' was just you trying to save your own skin." Finn continued as Bellamy looked over everyone's judgemental glares before turning to walk away.

"Hey shooter! Where's my radio?" Raven spoke up stepping in front of Bellamy to stop him leaving as his body radiated anger.

"I should've killed you when I had the chance." Bellamy growled his voice dripping with venom, as Raven stood in Bellamy's way.

"Really? Well, I'm right here." Raven bit back stepping forward before Bellamy grabbed her jacket and held her up against the nearest tree by her neck. As Bellamy's grip tightened around Raven, a sense of disappointment surged through me. At that moment, he reminded me of Murphy.

"Where's my radio?" Raven snarled, angering him more as Clarke and Finn called for him to calm down. Bellamy continued to hold Raven against the tree while she held a knife to his neck.

"Let her go!" Clarke called out but Bellamy didn't listen.

"Bellamy, stop." I interjected firmly, my voice cutting through the tense atmosphere like a knife. His gaze shifted to meet mine, and for a fleeting moment, I saw a flicker of remorse at the sight of my disappointed expression. As he released his grip on Raven, I averted my gaze from his as he redirected his attention to the others.

"Jaha deserved to die." Bellamy defended desperately as he tried to justify his actions.

"Well he's not my favourite person either, but he isn't dead." Raven replied as Bellamy's head snapped back to her.

"What?" Bellamy replied anxiously as his face immediately fell, his expression shifting from anger to fear in an instant. I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him as I heard the fear in his voice. 

"You're a lousy shot." Raven replied casually as Bellamy's expression completely shifted with fear.

"Where's the radio?" Clarke interrupted as Bellamy swallowed thickly trying to ease the weight of his guilt.

"It's too late..."

-----

After Bellamy confessed to tossing the radio into a river, we followed as he led us through the woods. On the hike, I kept to myself at the back of the group still enraged by the betrayal of his actions. Eventually, we reached a wide stream that cut through the forest. 

Without hesitation, everyone plunged into the water, desperate to find the radio that held the key to saving hundreds of lives. My waist was fully submerged in the water as I searched desperately for the radio. The thought of three hundred innocent people dying was a pretty decent motivator.