RYDER ▸ BELLAMY BLAKE

25 | good little soldier

RUBICON

"Has he checked in yet?"

Clarke walked inside Engineering, where I was helping Raven build the tone generators as she mapped out Mount Weather. She turned back and I looked up to see a Grounder stood behind Clarke. "No," Raven started. "You worried someone's gonna try and take a shot at you inside the Ark?"

Clarke rolled her eyes before turning to the Grounder. "Wait outside, rider."

He nodded his head, following orders as I teasingly started, "No, you wait outside."

"Not you, Ryder," she sighed before turning to Raven. "Lexa's orders." Raven didn't respond as Clarke eyed the radio. "He's late." It was true; it'd been more than three hours since he last made contact. "What if something's happened to him?"

I shook my head from my spot the work table, stopping for a moment to put my hair up into a messy bun. "He'll be fine," I stated, quirking a brow. "Weren't you the one telling me that yesterday?"

"Things have changed," the blonde ominously replied, looking around the room at the busy workstations and the scribbled-upon white boards. "You've been busy. Why are you focusing on the dam? I told you acid fog was our priority," Clarke snapped, seemingly anxious.

My eyes squinted at the sight—the blonde wasn't usually this bossy. "Until Bellamy gets eyes on their dispersal system, there's only so much Ryder and I can do," Raven sighed.

Clarke crossed her arms, clicking her tongue. "Fine. Tell me about the dam. Can we cut off their power?"

Raven shrugged. "Maybe. I'm still playing with a few things."

Clarke then turned her frustration to me. "How many of these have you made?" She grasped at one of the generators.

"Only two so far—"

"Two? That's not enough," she yelled. "There will be Reapers everywhere. Are you even a little worried about our people?"

I growled, slamming my hand loudly on the table as I stood up. "I've done nothing but worry about them. My brothers are in there, Clarke. And you sent my future baby daddy on a suicide mission to get them. They're my family. They're just your friends."

She lowered her gaze, not meeting my glaring eyes as I slowly sat back down, letting go of my anger. I understood she must've been scared but we all were; she had to understand that.

"High-frequency tone generators don't grow on trees, Clarke. Wick is scrounging for parts," Raven added.

Clarke sighed, speaking slowly and assertively. "Raven, Ryder and I are about to leave for Tondc, where Lexa and the heads of all twelve Grounder clans are waiting for me to tell them we're a go, only we're not a go because they still have acid fog and we only have two tone generators."

She let out another loud sigh, one full of exhaustion and fear. I walked up to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as Raven came to stand by us. "Hey. We'll be ready." She shot Raven an unsure look. "We will."

The radio frequency started to act up before Bellamy's voice sounded through the room. "Work Station, do you read me? Anybody there?"

I snatched up the receiver before Clarke could, shooting the blonde a knowing look. "Bell!" I squealed softly, hearing him sigh in relief and greet me.