trepidation |BELLAMY BLAKE| [1]

CHAPTER 12

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY," Avery's mother smiled as her daughter opened her eyes that morning.

"Good morning, momma."  Seven-year-old Avery grinned, sitting up in her bed, "Are we going to our special window today?"

"You bet, as soon as you're ready." Her mother replied, 

Avery's big brown eyes looked around their room, "Where's papa?"

"He's working but he'll meet us at our special spot, okay?" Avery nodded, "Now go get ready."

The young brunette burst out of bed and went about her daily routine, putting on a pair of leggings and a shirt that didn't have holes in it. She slipped on her shoes before following her mother to the mess hall.

After breakfast, her mother brought her to the special window in the Mecha Station. The view outside the window was immaculate. It was of Earth.

"It won't be long before our people go back." Her mother smiled sadly as she stood behind Avery, placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"Do you think I'll be able to go to Earth, momma?" Avery asked, looking up at her,

"Maybe, baby. If you dream hard enough."

They heard footsteps and their heads turned to see Avery's father heading towards them, "Happy birthday, Ave."

"Poppa!" Avery grinned and jumped into his arms.

"Ugh! Soon enough you'll be taller than me." He smiled, setting her down onto the ground,

"Not yet, poppa."

"I have something for you, baby. Something for you to cherish forever." Avery turned to her mother who held out a small box,

"A present?" Avery had never gotten a present from her family before. They weren't able to afford it, not being from the Factory Station.

"A present?" Her father frowned at her mother, not being aware of what was in the box.

She nodded at her husband, "Open in, baby."

Avery grinned, opening it to reveal a silver, heart-shaped necklace, "Oh, wow. I love it!"

Her mother lifted the necklace from the box and clipped it around Avery's neck, "So you know you'll always have my heart."

Avery stared out the window, watching Earth rotate as she played with the necklace. 

"How'd you get this?" Mr. Barnes asked his wife quietly,

"Don't worry about it, Paul. It makes her happy."

Avery looked back up at her parents, "Momma, can you tell me a story?"

"Sure, baby."

Avery sat up in cot and brushed her hair back away from her face with a sigh. Today was supposed to be a day of dread. Today was the day she was supposed to die. Today she turns 18.

She couldn't sleep at all. She's been tossing and turning for about an hour now. All she could think about were her mother and father. Was he up there, worrying about her? Did he know she was down here?

Avery was playing with her necklace when she heard shouts coming from outside.

"Guys, check it out!"

Avery sighed, "Couldn't sleep anyways."

Avery left her tent and saw the camp staring up at the sky. Something was shooting across the night sky. It was a ship of some sort. It had to have come from the Ark.

"Bellamy! Get out here!" Avery stood next to Octavia as Bellamy exited his tent, only wearing pants and she rolled her eyes as two other girls followed.

"They're coming to help us. Now we can kick some grounder ass." Jones smirked and the other boys laughed with him. 

"Please tell me they brought down some shampoo." One of Bellamy's girls stated.

Avery turned to the girl, "Is that really what you're concerned with at the moment? We could be murdered by a group of violent people outside these walls and you need your precious shampoo? Talk about priorities." She scoffed,

Bellamy and a few of his guard boys gathered in his tent and Octavia and Avery followed, "If it cleared the ridge, it's probably near the lake." Jones stated,

"We should get moving. Everyone's ready." Octavia said,

"No one's going anywhere. Not while it's dark. It isn't safe. We'll head out at first light. Pass the word." Bellamy said and his boys left to do as they were told.

"Everyone for 100 miles saw this thing come down. What if the Grounders get to it first?" Octavia asked, "Bell, we should go now."

"I said we wait until sunrise."

Avery turned to the other girl, "He's kinda right, you know. It wouldn't be safe running around in the dark trying to find this thing. If we're lucky, the Grounders can't open it."

"We can't wait, Avery." Octavia said before running off.

Avery was heading back to her tent to get some sleep before she ran into Clarke and Finn, "Did you guys see that? You know it's from the Ark, right? It had to be."

"Grab your stuff. Let's find out." Clarke smiled,

Avery shook her head, "Bellamy said we're gonna wait until sunrise."

Clarke's smile fell and she stalked towards the largest tent in camp. Opening it, instead of finding Bellamy, they found the two girls from earlier he fooled around with, "Where is he?"

"Ever hear of knocking, bitch?" Finn followed in, "Oh, great, it's a free show. Anyone else want to take a look?"

Clarke rolled her eyes, "Where the hell is Bellamy?"

"He took off a while ago." The girl answered,

"Gear's gone." Finn observed and the three of them looked at each other, "He told everyone to stay. Whatever's in that thing, he wants it. We've gotta get there before he does."

The trio left the tent and followed Clarke to the weapons table where she picked up a knife, "This isn't your fault, Clarke." Finn stated,

"I should've known he'd go for that radio." She replied,

"How are you supposed to know something like that?" Avery asked, struggling to keep up,

"Because he's spent every single minute since we landed making sure no one on The Ark finds out we're alive." She answered,

"It doesn't mean you can predict what people are gonna do." Finn said,

"That's exactly what I have to do. I screwed up. Let myself get distracted." Clarke responded, heading towards the gate,

"Woah, we're leaving now?" Avery asked, stopping in her tracks.

"I'm going to stop Bellamy. Come or go, that's up to you, Avery. You can't be scared all your life."