we all die anyways x bellamy blake/the 100

26 / apricus

she had magic in her eyes
that even the stars envied

song
beach baby
bon iver

——————
Bellamy
——————

"If you hadn't been forced to be a guard, what would you have been?" Charlie asks from behind me, picking another flower and adding it to the collection of brightly colored petals in her hand.

I pause, kneeling down and checking one of my traps, gladly finding yet another squirrel. I stuff it into my bag as I stand.

"...A guard?" I say unsure, glancing back at her.

Raven had to collect the pieces for the radios before any actual work could be done—resulting in Charlie tagging along with me, like our original plan.

She shakes her head. "I'm talking about if you had a choice."

"I chose to be a guard." I continue walking, motioning her to another flower bush—these ones different from the ones in her hand.

Charlie scoffs. "You might've felt like you had the choice, but you didn't. Statistically, 94% of all lower class families on The Ark only choose between a few different jobs—all working for the benefit of the upper class. It's a cycle—the privileged staying privileged and the unprivileged staying unprivileged."

I turn back, staring at her.

"What?" She says. "Do people actually think I started the riot without doing my research? I believed in the cause, and I still do."

"Besides," she continues. "being a guard was the only thing going to keep Octavia safe, right? Once you got older and your mother passed, how were you going to tell whenever random room checks happened? You'd also be more trusted as a guard, plus only 74% of male guards wed, which means you could stay single without suspicion."

"So? What would you have been?" She prods.

I sigh. "I don't know, Badass."

"I think you'd be a good teacher."

"A teacher?" As we pass a low hanging branch, I hold it above my head for her to pass through.

"Yep. History."

I smile and tuck my chin in for a spilt second, closing my eyes with sudden glee—I had never thought about what I could've been.

"So if I'm a teacher, then what are you?" I ask, bending over another trap—unfortunately empty.

"And don't say a Council Member." I add. "Technically you didn't have a career choice either."

She considers this for a second.

"This."

I couldn't imagine her doing anything else.

"This life I'm living now—but without the pain and suffering. I think this."

"You don't want anything, ahem, more?" I push curiously.

"What," She says sarcastically. "like, kids, or something?"

I glance back, waiting for her answer.

Her nose scrunches as she imagines a future. "I think I would love a life where I could lead my people and have my own little people."

Her face was full with a sad curiosity. "But this is Earth, Belly. I'll probably die before I get the chance to truly live."

She wasn't wrong. I didn't want to think about it.