undertow | bellamy blake (book one)

28 | catch a break

It had been two days since they had all recovered from the virus and they had set off the bomb at the bridge. So far there was no attack from the Grounders and as much as that was relieving, it was also unsettling. It wasn't a matter of if the Grounders attacked, it was when.

The camp had gotten back into the groove of things with each person being assigned a job. Jovie was kind of a floater, going from one thing to the next whenever someone needed help. Today she was helping Raven split the bullets. She wasn't a fan of the guns. However, she was also aware that if the Grounders attacked, those guns were the only things stopping them from being totally wiped out. She figured the least she could do was to lend Raven a hand. Besides, it was better than working in the smokehouse with Murphy and Octavia.

"Hey," Finn said as he walked in. Jovie smiled at him in acknowledgment, but Raven barely looked at him when he asked her what she was doing.

"Split loads, turning one bullet into two. It's all I can do until we get more gunpowder. Jasper has a recipe. Yesterday I saw him taking buckets from the latrine. I didn't ask," she said.

"Is one of those for me?" he asked. Jovie kept her head down as she continued working. Finn and Raven were still trying to work things out after everything that had happened with Clarke. There was clear tension, everyone could see that.

"Maybe. Still deciding," Raven said.

"I keep wanting to apologize again," Finn said. Jovie felt like she was intruding on something she didn't want to be involved in, but then again she was in here first, so she focused her attention on the bullets rather than their conversation. They weren't making it easy though.

"You don't have to. We're good," Raven said. Jovie raised her eyebrows. She found it hard to believe that Raven was okay, so she had a feeling she was doing this just to pretend like she was. "I got to get this done."

"That's bad," Finn noted.

"What?"

"When you're really pissed off, you always find a project, something to keep your hands busy so you don't punch someone in the face," he clarified. Jovie wanted to laugh because that sounded like Raven.

"I'm not keeping busy, Finn. I'm keeping us alive," she stated, now sounding a little bit annoyed with the boy.

"Yeah. You're right. That was a dumb thing to say. See you later," he said. Jovie gave him a sad smile as he walked by her, silently trying to tell him to keep his hopes up. She was sure Raven would come around eventually.

"Wait. We're good. We're good. We are. I just want you to be happy," Raven assured him before he was able to leave. Finn nodded his head before exiting the tent. It was silent for a few seconds before Jovie felt like she had to say something.

"Well that was awkward," she said. Raven let out a laugh.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Raven said.

"How are you doing though? With Finn and all?" Jovie asked. She was better friends with Finn, but she cared about Raven too and she must be struggling with this so Jovie wanted to be there for her. Raven shrugged, sitting back down so she could keep working on the bullets.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "It's always been me and Finn. He's family, you know? So I don't want to be mad at him, but he betrayed me. I don't take that lightly." Jovie understood exactly what she meant. John had betrayed her in the past too, but she's always struggled staying mad at him.

"I think it'll come with time," Jovie said. Raven nodded her head, hoping Jovie was right.

"Fire!" They both jumped up the second they heard someone screaming from outside. Jovie rushed over when she saw Bellamy helping Octavia out of the smokehouse that was now on fire.