undertow | bellamy blake (book one)

8 | mercy

"Why'd your parents choose you?" He then asked, taking her by surprise. It was a question that she always wondered herself. She also saw it more as them choosing John over her. He was the one they chose to let the Ark know about. She paused, continuing to stare at her lap as she tried to wrap her mind around any reason that she could think of (which, she's thought of a lot), but she could never figure one out. So in the end she just told him the truth.

"I don't know." She looked over at him and found him already staring at her. "But I think it's good that they did. I don't think John would have been able to handle it if it were him," she said, letting out a laugh. He smiled a bit, thinking about how dramatic Murphy could be. He couldn't imagine Murphy being stuck under the floor for 15 years. He would have been more messed up than he already was. "I suppose I didn't really handle it either though. When I was about 9 I started sneaking around the Ark, mostly through the vents but there were some times that I actually went through the halls. I learned how to steal rations without anyone noticing. Learned how to blend in. Learned how to fend for myself. At some point I realized I didn't really care if they found me. I was just tired of being scared."

She wasn't saying much, but Bellamy was beginning to understand why she was so guarded. She was forced to fight for herself. She had no control over her own life because she wasn't even supposed to exist. She lived her life in fear of being discovered, so learned to not care and not be afraid. It was exactly how it was with Octavia, so he also began to understand why Octavia and Jovie felt so bonded. They were the only two that truly understood what each other had gone through. For that reason, he couldn't help but feel the need to protect her like he did with Octavia.

♛

"Hey, wake up," the sound of Bellamy's voice filled Jovie's ears. She slowly opened her eyes to see him and Charlotte kneeling in front of her. She wondered when she had become the last person to ever wake up. "The fog is gone. We should go." She nodded, pushing herself to her feet as she followed them to the entrance. Bellamy called out for the others and it didn't take long for them to meet up with three of them. As they talked, Jovie looked around to see that Charlotte was gone.

"Bellamy, where'd Charlotte go?" Jovie asked. He turned around to realize that she was gone. It was the sounds of her screaming that alarmed them. Without thinking, they both bolted in the direction that her screams were coming from and once they saw that she was fine, they slowed down. Jovie looked to see what Charlotte was so scared of and gasped when she saw Atom's burnt body on the ground a few feet away. She moved past Charlotte and Bellamy and ran to his side. He was still breathing but barely.

"Kill me. Kill me," he repeated over again as he stared up at Jovie and Bellamy. It was barely audible as he struggled to get the words out, but when Jovie finally understood what he was saying, she frowned. The two of them stood up and Charlotte approached, staring down at Atom.

"He's suffering," Jovie said quietly. Bellamy frowned because he knew she was right. Charlotte slowly reached over and slid the knife into Bellamy's hand.

"Don't be afraid," she said. Bellamy looked at Atom's body for a brief second before addressing the rest of the hunting party.

"Go back to camp," he told them before looking at Charlotte. "Charlotte, you too." She hesitated before turning around and following the others. Bellamy turned to Jovie to see that she was not going to budge.

"I'm not leaving," she told him. He just nodded, already expecting that. Bellamy knelt back down to be by Atom's side, Jovie doing the same. Atom's body shook as he struggled to hold on. Jovie watched as Bellamy held the knife tightly in his hand, clearly having a hard time figuring out what to do.