𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞²

51. swarms

The newfound planet seemed to grow increasingly more beautiful and beautiful the further we ventured into it.

Each step through the forest caused me to look around in awe, instantly feeling my endorphins rise from the sights.

Maybe it was the fact that I hadn't seen a flourishing planet as such in over six years. Maybe it was just the prospect of a new beginning. But either way, I felt blissful.

That didn't mean that we weren't on edge. The group of us held onto our weapons as we made our way through the forest, turning at any variation of noise. We couldn't let ourselves become blindsided.

After about an hour of walking, the sky had begun to dim around us, signalling that it was time to take a break. According to Shaw's tracker, we should have been nearing a water source within minutes.

Luckily, his tracker was right. Moments later, we emerged from the forest onto a large beach.

"Looks like we found the water source." Bellamy pointed out the obvious, all of us falling silent as we took in the scenery.

The sight before us was spectacular, better than anything we could have seen buried within the forest.

A large lake reached for miles. The base of the lake met with luscious mountains of green, others capped with white.

But that wasn't even the best part. What really took my breath away was the view in the sky. There was visible a faint planet in the skyline, the large red suns of Planet Alpha visible as well.

"Amazing." I whispered in awe, my eyes roaming the scene in front of us. This was even better than Earth...much better.

"Now this is a view." Bellamy awed, a smile spread across his face as we stepped onto the sand.

I grinned, feeling the soft sand beneath my boots as we neared the edge of the lake.

"We camp here." He added, his eyes still roaming around in glory.

No one argued, all of us too busy looking around. I squinted against the sun-suns, bringing my hand up to shield my eyes.

"It looks like the suns are eclipsing." Clarke announced, she too squinting under the bright light.

A breathy laugh escaped my lips, maybe we had showed up at the perfect time. All of this almost seemed too good to be true.

I turned my head in confusion as someone went walking past me, I quickly noted that it was Murphy...of course it was Murphy.

He was silent as he pulled off the sling that had been supporting his gunshot wounded arm, and took the strap of his gun off over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I wondered, watching as he made for the body of water in front of us.

"Murphy," Jackson called. "Murphy, wait! We haven't tested it."

"Yeah." Murphy replied absentmindedly, pulling off his shirt and tossing it to the side.

Jackson looked like he was about to have a stroke. "Your wounds haven't healed yet!"

Murphy, in true Murphy fashion, ignored all of the warnings. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Watch out for sea monsters!" I yelled after him. Clarke, being the only one who understood my reference, turned to me with the smallest of smiles playing on her lips.

Jackson, who had no idea what I was talking about and clearly expected me to be on his side, looked to me with an incredulous expression. I gave him a small shrug as Murphy dove into the water.