Humanity | R. Reyes

thirteen. [nuts]

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"Hey," Jax greeted from behind. Rhea remained focused on carving a stick, avoiding any interaction with him to prevent stabbing him with the knife in her hand.

"Look, I know you're not happy about what happened with the grounder, but it was for the camp's safety. We needed intel," Jaxson reasoned.

"Seriously, Jax? Can you even hear yourself?" Rhea retorted, letting the half-carved stick drop to the ground as she stood to face him. "You're starting to sound like Bellamy," she scoffed, turning to walk away.

"And that's a bad thing?" Jax challenged.

"Yes, Jax, it is," she shot back, turning back to face him.

"If we hadn't brought him back, he would've returned with his entire army, and we'd all be dead!"

"And now he's seen our weaknesses and our camp. If he manages to escape, he'll definitely come back," Rhea argued.

"He won't escape." Jax insisted.

"Yeah, well, if he does... that's on you, Jax," she jabbed a finger at him, pushing it forcefully into his chest before striding away, securing her knife back in its makeshift holster.

She began walking through the camp, observing the delinquents diligently working on various tasks to fortify their defences, she soon approached Monty and Jasper, who were sorting nuts into pouches.

"Hey, want some?" Jasper offered with a grin, extending a bag towards her while popping a few more nuts into his mouth. Rhea eyed the nuts suspiciously, picking one up from the table and examining it closely.

"Are these safe?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow at Monty, who merely shrugged in response.

"They seem fine, and the flavour's good," he remarked, munching on another nut. Rhea shrugged, trusting his judgment as she took the bag from Jasper's hand, selecting a few nuts from the table and popping them into her mouth, savouring the burst of flavour.

"Mmm, these are so fucking good," she smiled, glancing at the two boys. "Thanks, guys. Have either of you seen Octavia?"

"Haven't seen her around," Jasper replied with a shrug, a crease forming on his forehead. "She's probably holed up in the dropship, hoping to catch a glimpse of that grounder."

"Right," Rhea sighed, tucking her bag of nuts into her pockets and grabbing a rock to join the boys in cracking them open.

"What do you think they'll do to the grounder?" Jasper queried as he cracked another nut, his gaze fixed on Bellamy emerging from the dropship.

"I'd rather not think about it," Monty sighed. Rhea glanced towards the dropship, meeting Bellamy's cold stare before he turned away and headed to his tent.

"Well, it's been days since Bellamy captured him," Jasper remarked, "how long until his friends come looking?"

Monty grinned, playfully nudging Jasper's arm. "Cheer up. In that time, we'll all be dead from hypothermia."

"Well, that's depressing," Rhea chuckled from beside them, observing as Monty tossed a nut to Jasper, who caught it in his mouth. They cheered and then opted to clap their own hands instead of each other's, some weird handshake the two friends had.