Radioactive

Chapter Six

I wake up to screams, but this time, the aren't mine. I peel my eyes open and see the wall of the dark cave. They feel puffy and itchy from the crying that I did. I lift my head off of Bellamy's shoulder, smiling at the peaceful look on his face. "No!" Bellamy jerks awake next to me and unwraps his arms from my shoulder, and we both turn around to look at Charlotte. Her eyebrows are scrunched together in fear, her eyes squinted tightly, and her shaking hands grip Bellamy's jacket so hard, her small knuckles have turned white. "Charlotte," I say, shaking the girl's legs. "Wake up." Hey eyes pop open, wide with fear, and dart around the cave. Her eyes rest on Bellamy and then flick over to me and close. "I'm sorry." She says, her shoulder sagging. "Does it happen often?" I ask her, my hands still resting on her legs as me and Bellamy sit on our knees in front of her. She lets out a small sigh and nods her head slightly. "What are you afraid of?" I ask gently, my sympathy for the girl rising. My heart plummets when she doesn't reply and instead just looks down at my hands on her legs. I turn to Bellamy, panicking.

I have always been the youngest between me and my cellmates, so I have never interacted with people who are younger than me. Kids, are apparently not my thing. Bellamy returns my panicked look with a slightly amused one, apparently he enjoys my suffering. He shakes his head and grabs Charlotte's hands in his own. "You know what," He says, getting her to look up at him. "It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you do about it." Charlotte looks just as confused as I feel. "I'm asleep." She says, voicing her confusion. Bellamy looks down and I look at him. "Fears are fears." He says, looking back up at her. I keep my eyes on him as he continues. "You slay your demons when you're awake, they won't be there to get you when you sleep." He smiles at her as I smile at him.

He must be so good with kids. Octavia has told me a little bit of how they grew up together, and how he mostly took care of her while their mother was working. He did very well with Octavia, and I have all my trust in him that he will do just as well with Charlotte.

"Yeah, but how?" Charlotte asks, bringing me back to the conversation. "You can't afford to be weak." Bellamy tells her. "Down here, weakness is death, fear is death." There's a pause as we all take in what he just said. I continue to look at him, my eyebrows furrowed. "Let me see that knife I gave you." Charlotte pulls out the knife from her jacket pocket, still looking confused, and hands him the knife. "Now, when you feel afraid, you hold tight to that knife and you say 'screw you, I'm not afraid.'" I roll my eyes at his word choice for a little girl, as he hands her back the knife. She holds onto it with both hands and looks up at me doubtfully. I nod. "Go on," I say, smiling encouragingly at her. "Bellamy might actually have a good thought going here." I say, smirking at him as he rolls his eyes.

Charlotte looks back down at the knife and takes a deep breath. "Screw you," she barely whispers, "I'm not afraid." She looks up at Bellamy through her eyelashes, and he gives her a look. She looks to me, and I gave her an encouraging nod. She closes her eyes and takes another deep breath. "Screw you," She says, opening her eyes that hold a new glint of determination. "I'm not afraid." I grin as I watch the fear leave her eyes and pat her legs, placing my hands in my lap. "Slay your demons kid, then you'll be able to sleep." He turns back around and lays down on his side, his feet kicking me slightly. I turn off my knees and sit down. Bellamy places his feet on my lap. I roll my eyes and shove them off, but instead of keeping them off, like a normal person, he places them back on my lap. "Bellamy stop it." I say, pushing them off again. He chuckles as he places them back on my lap. "Bellamy," I say, laughing and once again pushing his feet off of me. "Carter," he mocks, sitting up. He sticks one foot out and places it on my lap. I raise my eyebrows up at him, a smile pulling at my lips. "Fine." I say. I grab onto his shoe and pull the lace, untying it. He tries to pull his foot away, but I grab onto it with both hands. "No, you started this." I say, laughing. I pull his boot off, leaving his foot in only a sock. He starts laughing as I try to pull his sock off too. "Carter, no." He says, laughing. I stop. He sits all the way up and his eyebrows scrunch in confusion. "What?" He says, sounding concerned. I shake my head, my smile still slapped on my face. "Nothing." I say, throwing his foot away from me and laughing. "Will you just tell me." He says, his voice getting slightly higher than normal. "Okay okay fine." I say, tossing him his boot. He puts it on and gives me an expecting look.