Wounds [Bellamy Blake]

The Bomb and the Bridge [Chapter 49]

                “Come on now!” I shouted, gesturing towards the drop ship; the tarp had been pulled back, revealing the sickly and lively within.

                People didn’t want to go near the infected, but it was either risk catching an illness that most of the people were recovering from already, or risk the Grounders. Most of the healthy people climbed to the uppermost level of the ship, avoiding those who had symptoms. However, it was Murphy and Clarke who were visibly healthier. Even Bellamy was getting more colour to his recently paled face.

                I crouched down beside him and pressed my lips to his forehead; it was burning hot.

                “Is everyone in?” He asked.

                I nodded, “All but those who left a while ago with the bomb.”

                Bellamy rested his eyes, “If we survive this… What then?”

                I shrugged my shoulders, “Leave, maybe? Go as far away from the Grounders as possible?”

                Instead of replying, the stubborn man simply sighed.

                “Give it a thought; we might be dead in a few minutes.” I reminded him.

                Bellamy half laughed; perhaps he was accepting how true my words were.

                Watching as Clarke stood up, walking to the edge of the drop ship, my eyes followed her figure. As she leaned into the metal frame of the drop ship, staring out beyond the empty camp. Our fires smouldered, and our footprints were scattered over the dirt. Beyond the trees and our walls that surrounded us, miles ahead, was the bridge. I knew what was running through Clarke’s head; she cared about everyone at the camp. Even if her opinions and morals had taken a small turn as of late, she still cared for each individual. However, it was Finn she cared for more than anyone; and he was out there trying to rescue his girlfriend.

                Clarke was even kind to Raven, and Raven to Clarke, though there was an obvious tension between them. Jasper and now Monty were out there too; our fate lied in their untrained skill using an ancient rifle with hand-made bullets. It didn’t seem to be in our favour. The sun was rising now, and the Grounders were surely to be crossing that bridge in only a moment’s time.

                The explosion of brown smoke, funneling into the sky before exploding into the signature mushroom shape proved that Raven had succeeded. Black rising smoke was visible before the sound made it our way, a loud rumble that seemed to shake the entire Earth. I assisted Bellamy to the edge of the drop ship, allowing him to lean over my shoulder as we witnessed the welcomed explosion. It slowed the Grounders and the war, but I knew that it was a start to destroying the world again. We had destroyed it with bombs, and now that we were back again, not even having been here for a month, we were doing it again.

                “I am become death; destroyer of worlds.” Clarke said, glancing back at us. “Oppenheimer, the man who built the first-“

                Bellamy cut her off, “I know who Oppenheimer is.”

                Silence fell for a moment as the cloud of smoke continued to rise into the air.

                We waited impatiently for the others to return, and in my mind I was planning to get a search party out there to find them. Whether they were alive or not was unknown for the time being. It was a few hours later when they arrived back; Raven in Finn’s arms. The woman had blood smeared underneath her nose, an obvious sign of the illness that had plagued the camp, though most of us had survived it. Still, there had been fourteen deaths since we arrived at Earth, leaving only eighty-six of us.

                It would have eighty-six less if Raven hadn’t made that bomb and succeeded in planting it.

                Everyone was clapping for our new-found heroes, Jasper, Monty, Raven and Finn. Success was the silver lining around the heavy grey cloud that still lingered over us. However, I found a smile had crept onto my lips, and I was clapping along with everyone else. Nodding towards Monty and Jasper, I watched at Finn carried Raven into the drop ship where those who were sick still lingered despite everyone else emerging to see the cloud of smoke.

                “How much time do you think this buys us?” I asked Bellamy.

                “They know their way around; no doubt about it.” He said, “But they might think we have more bombs, more guns and more weapons than we do. That might buy us a week?”

                “I hope so.” I said, though I knew that if Bjorn was still alive, he would likely be able to tell me. If he could cross to our camp, if he could catch me alone again. My lips tingled at the thought and I reached out to grab Bellamy’s hand, forcing the thoughts from my mind. I decided to ask Octavia to ask Lincoln.

                I found her in the drop ship, the top level. Though she had confirmed that those who had no gotten the illness already were immune to it, I was still worried that she or I might get it; Raven had gotten it later than most. Though, almost everyone was recovering now. The brunette had something in her hands, but I took no notice to what it was.

                “Hey.” I said softly, knowing that she was having a hard time with this; Lincoln had been exiled after the meeting where I escaped the Grounders, and surely it was taking a toll on her.

                “Hey, Ava.” She sat up, her eyes red from tears.

                “What’s wrong?”

                “I…” She began, “I turned down my chance of happiness for Bellamy.”

                “What are you talking about?”

                “Lincoln, he wanted me to go East, to the ocean with him, away from this madness.” She began, “But I couldn’t leave Bellamy on the eve of war. I couldn’t leave any of you…”

                I knelt down in front of her, “Whatever decision you made cannot be changed, and you helped us survive this. Without you, we would have all been killed.”

                “I know, I know I made the right choice.” She sighed, “I just wish I could find Lincoln now and go with him. We could all go… There wouldn’t be territorial wars, there wouldn’t be any more wars.”

                “He’s gone.” I realized.

                She started crying again, softly. Tears slipped from her eyes and hardly any sound came from her, but she was shaking slightly. Wrapping my arms around her in the most comforting way I could, I understood what she had done to save us all. The way she looked at Lincoln from the first minute I saw them revealed to me exactly what she felt for him, and it had only grown into something more over the last while.

                I realized then what I had to do.

                I had to find Bjorn.