The Outsiders ☢️ Bellamy Blake [On Hiatus]

Making Allies

Zara say in the comfort of her own home waiting. She couldn't believe she was actually about to do what she was. On the coffee table in front of her was a box that had collected dust over the years. Inside were small items and pictures, all things a person would feel sadden to look at. She didn't want to have to use it but it was the only valuable option she had.

In her hand was a photo, a Polaroid of a family that looked happy. A small girl in the arms of her mother, while the father smiled down at the pair. A small tag was in her other hand as her finger swept over the lettering.

Her father was not a topic regularly discussed among the Tsing women. In fact, they avoided the topic all together so not to argue amongst themselves. Lorelei had loved her husband but often disagreed on his views of the treatment of the outsiders. She had been particularly furious when she had found out her daughter had similar viewings. Then one day, the unthinkable had happened.

Mount Weather had their shared fair of revolt against their treatment but it never lasted long. The people who opposed the treatment normally stopped their treatments and died. But one had taken it too far. A guard who was well-respected guard married to a doctor had had enough of the blood treatment. He loved being apart of the ground unit and cherished the beauty he found outside the door. So, one day after kissing his wife and daughter good-bye, he took a radiation suit and headed topside.

He sat in a field watching the birds overhead and listened to the soft sounds coming from the breeze in the trees. While holding the same picture in his hands, he pulled the helmet of his suit off. He only stared at the photo while the radiation invaded his body.

Her mother had thrown herself into her work then. She wanted to find a way to prove that she could help them survive topside without hazmat suits. But her work had pushed her from her daughter. When Lorelei found out about Zara training to be a guard she had been mad. A part of her hoped that maybe she'd be interested in the medical field like her but that dream was crushed.

Instead, the two had remained strong and independent in their own way. But each the opposite of the other.

"What are you doing with that?" Lorelei announced her present once she entered through the door. Her daughter seated there with the box of memories she wished to pushed away.

"He hated the treatments and tried to go as long as possible without them. I remembered how mad you were at me when I tried to refuse. But I was 7, I didn't know better." Zara tried to sound as sincere as possible. People were counting on her and she couldn't let them down. They would be punished if she did. "This experiment on the kids, do you actually think it'll work?"

"The blood transfusions aren't enough to generate inside us but the bone marrow would be a more direct source." Lorelei admitted. The sight of the picture in her daughter's hand had brought her guard down. "I just need enough time to prove it."

"What do you think he would've done?" Zara asked knowing that she couldn't just agree to give in right away. Her mother would see past the facade. "I think I know why he did it. When I'm topside I think about how the breeze would feel in my hair. To be able to touch the flowers. To feel free to roam without the tank weighing me down."