RYDER ▸ BELLAMY BLAKE

29 | promises

BLOOD MUST HAVE BLOOD –
PART II

We made our way down to the rear entrance, where the mine meets one of the entrances of Mount Weather. As we neared the rear entrance, a loud bang echoed through the door; someone's knuckles had been hitting the metal door. My eyes caught Bellamy's, both of us a bit perplexed. If the Grounders had retreated from the mines, who would be left?

I pushed past Bellamy when I realized exactly who it was, opening the door as the group behind me yelled in protest. Octavia's eyes melted into my own as they met, both of our protective stances lowering as our arms made their way around each other. I could fear my soft tears seeped through her long-sleeved, tattered t-shirt. I could instantly feel Bellamy's arms around the both of us, squeezing tightly as we all reunited.

Thankfully, I controlled myself before we pulled away, simply wiping the tears away as Jasper and Monty made their way over to Octavia. Clarke stood behind the brunette, shying away from the attention, most likely because the Grounders had just betrayed us and that was something she was not anticipating.

I crushed her in a hug, something I was not anticipating until I was actually doing it, and I felt her rest at ease in my arms, safe and secure. It was nice to be around someone you knew didn't want to kill you. As we backed away, Clarke's eyes glued to the door we'd just come from, where Maya stood in her Hazmat suit, a bit out of breath. Octavia was staring at her too, the tips of her fingers reaching for her blade.

"O, it's all right. She's with us," Bellamy informed, watching as his sister's hand retracted and instead rested by her side. He stood beside myself and Clarke, asking the blonde where her army was.

She shook her head, completely distraught but holding it together. "Gone, just like yours... Say you have a plan."

Bellamy's eyes wavered from hers as he stated, "Not really. We need to talk to Dante. Maya says he's in quarantine."

As Jasper and Monty rushed over to greet Clarke, I found myself standing beside Maya. My eyes moved over to Bellamy's figure as he stood beside Clarke, brows furrowed and hand aggressively clutching his gun. I turned back to Maya; her eyes were already on me.

"I might not get a chance to say this later but... thank you, Maya. You've helped my friends so much and I don't know how I could ever repay you," I softly spoke, watching as a faint smile adorned her lips.

"I just wanted to fight for something I believe in," she informed me, her eyes drifting to Jasper's figure. "This is definitely not the right time to ask this but is he..."

I let out a little laugh, shrugging my shoulders. "Yeah, he is. And he's all yours when we get out of this crap."

Her smile widened, only to be diminished when the beeper on her Hazmat suit went off. Jasper rushed over to her, checking the levels of oxygen. "Thirty minutes," he read, "and we just changed it. That can't be right. It's her last tank." He stumbled over his words, trying to find a solution for her eminent problem.

I reached out, my hand resting on her elbow. "We'll find you another one," I strongly stated.

"All the supplemental oxygen is on level 5," she told us.

"Then we have to get you to level 5," Jasper fought.

"5 isn't safe for any of us."

"We'll take the trash chute again. It will work."

Bellamy shook his head from behind me, stepping up to speak up. "To get in, maybe. Maya's right. Every soldier in this mountain is there. We'll never make it out."