Fearless (Bellamy Blake - Book 1)

Chapter 91

"We'll talk when you walk out of that Dropship alive. With Jasper beside you and Murphy lying inside with a bullet in his skull."

Bellamy's lips twitch up into a small smile at my brutality and he nods slowly as he pulls his hand away from mine. "Deal."

I try to smile back, try to believe the scenario I just told him. But I can't, because there's a large part of me that is convinced Bellamy won't be walking out of that ship.

He looks down at the ground for a moment before licking his lips nervously and bringing the walkie-talkie up to his mouth.

"Murphy, I know you can hear me. All our ammo and food is in the middle level. You know that. You're leaving us vulnerable to an attack—I can't let that happen."

"Yeah, well in case you hadn't noticed you're not exactly in control right now." Murphy's aggravating voice comes out through the talkie, causing my eyes to narrow.

Bellamy looks expectantly at the Dropship ahead of us, as if he's imagine Murphy's expression. "Come on, Murphy. You don't wanna hurt Jasper, you want to hurt me."

I start to pace again, chewing on one of my fingernails as I go over the possible scenarios of how this could play out.

It could either work to our advantage—unlike most plans of ours—and both Bellamy and Jasper make it out alive, or Murphy kills Jasper before Bellamy has a chance to get him out...or both of them could die inside, in which case I would happily storm the Dropship and feel no remorse when taking Murphy's life.

Crazy, the things you're willing to do for the people you love.

"So, what do you say?" Bellamy continues, walking over to where I've stopped pacing. He stands in front of me and looks directly into my eyes. "How about you trade him for me?"

I can feel the defeated expression that falls onto my face, especially when Octavia grabs her brother's arm.

"No!"

Bellamy shrugs his sister's hand off him. "All you have to do is let him go, and I'll take his place."

There's a tense silence as Murphy thinks this through. The entire ordeal makes me feel sick.

"How?" I can almost hear the smirk in his voice and shake my head in frustration.

"Bellamy, if you do this...he'll kill you."

Bellamy looks down at his sister with a grave expression. "If I don't, he'll kill Jasper." He takes a breath before talking to Murphy again, "Simple. You open the door, I walk in, he walks out."

There's another silence, then a sudden hiss of air as the ramp to the ship starts to open up. All the gunners spring to life and aim at the entrance.

"Just you, Bellamy!" Murphy yells from inside. "Unarmed! Ten seconds, or I'll put one in Jasper's leg!"

Bellamy hands me the walkie-talkie, and his axe to one of the guys standing nearby as Murphy starts counting.

"We'll find a way to get you out," Octavia says to him.

"I can handle Murphy." Bellamy says strongly, his hand grasps mine. "Get everyone back to work, Grounders are still coming."

Bellamy gives my hand one last reassuring squeeze before retracting his own, walking towards the ramp. I can't help but feel like Bellamy just pulled a piece of me away with him as he walks away. A sinking feeling burrows in my stomach.

"Five!"

"I'm here."

Murphy stops counting, and Bellamy takes a deep breath before jumping up on the ramp and taking two strides past the tent covering the entry. Barely a moment passes before a body is thrown out of the drop ship, Jasper rolling into the mud at our feet.

When the hiss of air sounds and the ramp starts to rise, I feel my heart beat louder as my hands clam up. Octavia crouches down to remove the gag from Jasper's mouth, and that's when I throw aside the walkie-talkie, along with any remaining sense, and rush to cling onto the rising ramp.

I pull my body up, mentally cursing my lack of upper-body strength, swinging my legs over with a grunt and let my body slide down the metal.

I'm tangled in the tent for only a moment before I push it aside and jump to my feet with a short gasp, seeing two shocked faces staring back at me.