FLARES ━ BELLAMY BLAKE ( 1 )

chapter forty-two

"I—I'm not going to say she was wrong, Raven. She saved him a lot of pain," she admitted, but the minute the words came out of her mouth, something inside of Raven snapped.

"That's why you came up here? To rub this in my face?" she fired off, stopping in her tracks completely and clenching her fists to the point of her knuckles being white.

"Raven, it's okay," Chandler attempted to assure her in a quiet tone, her loud one drawing much attention from everyone traveling with them.

"No, it's not! Finn is dead!" she yelled, more tears forming in her already red and swollen eyes. "Screw you, Taylor. I thought Finn was your friend."

And she kept moving, tears in her eyes and tension all over her body. Taylor knew grief could control a person but she was still stopped in her tracks, tears forming in her own eyes now.

Hearing all of that was like a punch to the gut and she was completely winded. Chandler looked back at her apologetically but continued to walk with Raven, watching her carefully. All she wanted to do was carry out Finn's wishes.

Bellamy and Clarke finally caught up, eyes wide in shock at the scene that had just transpired. Bellamy's hand lightly wrapped around her waist and he nodded his head down the path.

"Let's keep moving," he told her quietly. She nodded absently and followed with him and Clarke silently.

__________

Night had fallen and the fire illuminated them as they set up their camp for the night. Tondc was a few more hours away, and many of them were exhausted.

Raven and Chandler talked quietly a few feet away from where Abby, Kane, Elara, and Myers congregated, speaking in hushed tones.

Clarke was rolling out her sleeping bag closer to the other side of camp where the Grounders set up. Dria eyed her with hatred from a few meters away, clearly not a fan of the idea.

"Clarke, it's safer on our side," Bellamy said, looking over at the Commander's advisor warily.

"We need to trust them, Bellamy," Clarke deferred. "There are no sides."

"She's right," Taylor agreed, knowing full well that this alliance was everything if they wanted their friends out of Mount Weather.

She grabbed her pack and set up her sleeping  bag a few feet away from Clarke while she dozed off. Bellamy followed her a few moments later, setting up his things next to hers.

Taylor laid down and looked up at the stars, hoping that she'd be able to sleep but knowing the likelihood wasn't great.

"Hey," Bellamy alerted from beside her. She turned on her side and found herself looking directly at him. "About Mount Weather. I have an idea. Clarke doesn't approve."

Taylor paused. "You think I will?"

"No," he responded. "But I want to tell you about it anyway. We need an inside man. Someone who can help us defeat them from the inside."

She nodded slowly, finally coming to the conclusion of what he was getting at.

"I have a feeling that man on the inside is you, isn't it?" she inquired, the very thought of that plan rooting concern deep in her chest.

"Yes," he confirmed. Taylor looked at the ground between them, deep in thought.

"Having someone on the inside isn't a bad idea," she told him, a slight bit of hesitation evident in her voice. "But I don't know if I could watch you go in there. It's horrible."