RYDER ▸ BELLAMY BLAKE

12 | casanova

WE ARE GROUNDERS — PART I

We'd been up all night.

No one in the camp got any sleep. We were all too busy preparing for the inevitable Grounder attack. As I helped Jasper on watch, gun in hand, I could hear Bellamy talking over the overlapping chatter created by the group.

I glanced back, seeing him order everyone around roughly before turning to Raven, who was crouching down, putting a landmine in place. "Come on. These foxholes aren't going to build themselves. Better hope those landmines work. With all the gunpowder we're wasting, we could be making more grenades."

She didn't look back at him as she continued working in the dirt. "You want to come over here and test one?"

His next words infuriated me, making me externally groan. "Cute," he replied to her comment. "I need this entire section mined by morning. Then you finish the south field."

I turned my ears away from their conversation, worrying that if I continued listening on, the gun in my hands would no longer contain all of its rounds.

"You okay?" Jasper asked from beside me. I shook my head, running a hand through my hair. "Does it have something to do with Bellamy and Raven?"

For someone who was quiet most of the time, he sure was observant. "They slept together," I explained, watching as his eyes widened before they narrowed, trying to cover up the slip of surprise for my sake.

He didn't know what to say to that. I mean, what could you say to that? Hey, I'm sorry your sort-of boyfriend slept with one of your friends. Want to drink your pain away?

Instead of saying that, Jasper said something even better, making my heart melt. "He doesn't deserve you anyway, R."

That's what best friends are for, picking you up when you're down and making you feel better. Well, that and playing drinking games with.

I changed the subject, sensing the silence that filled up the space between us. "I just want to find Monty."

He smiled softly, pulling me in for a side hug. "We will," he promised. When he went to speak again, a gunshot sounded through the air, making our heads snap towards one of the delinquents, Travis, who had fired it.

Bellamy stomped his way over to the boy and I unconsciously followed, assuming nothing good could come out of his anger. "What the hell is the matter with you?" he asked Travis, closing the distance between them.

"I'm sorry, man. I fell asleep. I've been on watch all day," he excused, stumbling back when Bellamy forcefully pushed his back against the trunk of a tree, gripping onto his jacket.

"We've all been on watch all day! That bullet was one less dead Grounder."

I looked over at Octavia, who glanced at the crowd behind us before gesturing to me. I shook my head, widening my eyes until her lips tightened as she nodded over at the delinquent. "Bellamy, stop," I tried, using my free hand to grab a hold of his forearm. He glanced down at me. "You're scaring people."

"They should be scared!" he roared, pushing Travis away and turning to the small crowd that had gathered around. "The bomb on the bridge bought us some time to prepare, but that time is up! The Grounders are out there right now, waiting for us to leave and picking us off one by one when we do! Clarke, Finn, and Monty are gone – probably dead—" That made me frown in denial. "—and if you want to be next, I can't stop you, but no guns are leaving this camp! This camp is the only thing keeping us alive!" He looked over at everyone, none of whom tried to argue with him. "Get back to work!"