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THE FIRE BURNED BRIGHTLY, cries of pain ringing throughout the night as Jinny ripped open another wristband. Cheers erupted all around her, hooting and hollering with the drumming of plastic buckets. The metal brace fell to the ground with a dull klunk and she swiftly picked it up before cursing under her breath again. The boy beside her rubbed his sore wrist where red dots decorated his pale skin with a pattern of poorly imitated constellations.
"That really hurt!" he complained and Jinny pushed him away.
"Oh, suck it up," she snapped back in irritation before shouting at the rowdy crowd. "Who's next?"
A girl crouched down beside her to take the boy's place and laid her arm across the large rock in front of them. Jinny positioned her rod at the top of the girl's band to snap it open at the clasp. She examined it again and clicked her tongue in frustration, wiping beads of perspiration from her top lip. The woman flung the useless piece of metal into the fire with pronounced vexation.
Bellamy's deep voice boomed above the tumult. "Anyone else?"
"What the hell are you doing?!" Wells stormed over and threw Jinny a disapproving glance while Bellamy looked to him with an affronted expression. A boy with closely cropped hair and a tanned complexion that they got to know as John Mbege stepped forwards tauntingly but Bellamy stopped him with a hand to the chest. The man turned back to Wells.
"We're liberating ourselves," he said and Jinny rolled her eyes. "What does it look like?"
"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed," Wells retorted. "The communications system is dead. You should know that, Jinny, these wristbands are all we have. Take them off and the Ark will think we're dying—that it's not safe for them to follow!"
"That's the point, Chancellor." Bellamy raised his eyebrows mockingly. "We can take care of ourselves. Can't we?!"
The delinquents erupted with yells of assent and Jinny stood up, throwing her rod to the side. Murphy, the gang leader boy, bent down to pick it up. He gestured towards the rock by the crackling fire and continued where Jinny had left off with the wristbands.
"You think this is a game?" Wells started heatedly, turning around to address everyone. "Those just aren't our friends and parents up there. There are farmers, doctors, engineers. I don't care what he tells you, we won't survive here on our own!"
Bellamy rubbed his chin, a muscle twitching in his jaw with barely contained agitation. There was no doubt that the boy was speaking reason; having the expertise of the people on the Ark would make their lives exponentially easier. Wells turned back to Bellamy challengingly.
"And besides, if it really is safe; how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?"
"My people already are down." Bellamy gestured around before pointing to the sky. "Those people locked my people up." He started forwards. "Those people killed my mother for the crime of having a second child. Your father did that."
"My father didn't write the laws," Wells seethed.
"No, he enforced them." Bellamy shook his head. "But not anymore. Not here. Here, there are no laws. Here, we do whatever the hell we want. Whenever the hell we want!"
"Yeah, that's right!!" shouted several people in agreement to his words.
"You don't have to like it, Wells," Bellamy said. "You can even try to stop it or change it. Or kill me. You know why?" A cocky smile spread across his face. "Whatever the hell we want."
"Whatever the hell we want!!" Murphy shouted into the crowd and Bellamy raised a hand like a self-satisfied lord as more kids started to pick the line up. It grew into a rising crescendo as the others pumped their fists into the air and chanted almost religiously together.
Wells took a step forwards to the fire, his dark eyes focused on Jinny as he pointed at her angrily. "This is okay with you?! Weren't you the one who checked the comms yourself?"
The woman looked back at him frigidly, her eyes flickering towards Bellamy and the rest of the delinquents. Wells took another step closer to her. "Weren't you the one who wanted to survive?" he hissed.
Jinny took a step back from him, an unreadable expression on her face as he glared expectantly for an answer. She raised her hands up at the sides and shrugged her shoulders as the cheers quieted down. Everyone focused their attention on her, eager to hear what she had to say to their claim.
"You're preaching to the pews, Wells," she said. "They dropped us down here knowing that we could have died. Your father said so himself that we were expendable. What's to stop 'em from sending another hundred down? Who's to stop us from living our own lives on the ground, Chancellor? Not a damn soul, that's who."
Bellamy nodded his head at her approvingly before yelling out. "The Commander agrees!"
"The Commander agrees!!"
Jinny had to refrain from rolling her eyes to the back of her head as the flock rejoiced at their newfound freedom. The look of hurt that crossed Wells' face made her feel a pang of guilt deep within her conscience. She figured that she owed him an explanation and apology once the night was over.
"Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want!"
Wells' chest started to heave as his face twisted with enmity. He turned around slowly to take the others in, consumed with the convergence of their single group mindedness. Bellamy smirked arrogantly when their eyes met and the tension in the air was almost palpable.
Suddenly, a deep rumble cracked overhead and the racket died down to an uncertain hush as everyone started in surprise. Their eyes gazed up to the darkened sky, a fork of lightning illuminating the blank expanse with galvanising energy. In the next second, rain poured down on them in a heavy deluge. Jinny let out a gasp as the water drenched her completely, soaking into her skin and clothes without remorse. The delinquents exchanged wide-eyed enthusiasm with one another being breaking out into a fervent state of gaiety.
"We need to collect this," Wells said.
"Whatever the hell you want," Bellamy replied and the boy scowled darkly before walking away.
Jinny grabbed a can from a nearby teen and threw it at Bellamy's head. "He's right, dumbass." She then smacked another kid on the shoulder. "Didn't you hear me?! I said collect it!"
They scrambled away as Bellamy slowly turned to her in consternation. Jinny grabbed hold of the man's arm, squinting as rain drops trickled into her eyes. He looked down at her and took her hand, throwing his head back to let the rain wash over him in a moment of contentment. His boyish face was made more youthful with the exhilarated smile that played about his lips and she recalled a time when she would laugh with him.
"Bellamy," she started and he shook his hair like a wet dog.
She scrunched her nose up in disgust before pulling her hand back from his. He laughed at her and cheered into the wild night with the rest of the flock. Someone crashed into her and she stumbled to the side. Bellamy caught her before she got too near the still burning flames. His eyes sparkled under the dancing light that mitigated the shadows, making his face glow orange.
"Loosen up, Commander," he remarked with a smirk. "Or did you forget how?"
She curled her fingers around the collar of his jacket and leaned in close to his face.
"Wells was right," she said, her voice almost a whisper, and he frowned with concentration to listen. Her lips twitched with a small scowl as unbidden memories resurfaced to the forefront of her mind. She could put up as many walls and acts as she wanted to, but there was no denying the lingering sentiments that lurked in the dark.
Bellamy reached out and pushed her matted hair away from her face and she remembered things that she wished she could eternally forget. The rain drops falling down her cheeks felt like the tears she shed when they pulled her mother away from her. Shrill screams from the frolicking teens around them reminded her of the pain she felt tearing through her vocal chords. Her throat constricted tightly as he stroked her head the exact same way he did that night eight years ago.
But it had ended the moment he walked through the doors of the control room.
Jinny pushed him away and his face smoothed into another indecipherable mask. Her hands trembled slightly as she took a deep breath to calm her erratic heart. Then she looked up at him with hatred burning deep in her dark eyes.
"I want to live," she said bitterly before storming away.
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