trepidation |BELLAMY BLAKE| [1]

CHAPTER 15

LATER THAT NIGHT, AVERY SAT IN HER TENT, FIDDLING WITH HER NECKLACE,

She hoped that the flares worked, and that her father knew she was alive down here. Just as she's all alone on Earth, he's alone on the Ark. They used to look forward to their weekly visits together when she was in the Skybox.

"Avery?", Bellamy called out, breaking her from her thoughts. The brunette stuck her head out of her tent, "Have you seen Octavia?" Bellamy asked.

She shook her head, "Not since yesterday. Why?"

"She's missing."

Avery stepped out of her tent, shrugging on her jacket as she did so, "Ok, I'll help look. I'll check the dropship, you check the rest of the tents."

Bellamy nodded, "Thank you."

Avery gave him a nod back before heading towards the dropship.

She wasn't in the dropship. Avery asked around, no one had seen her. Octavia was truly gone. But if she did leave camp, she wouldn't have been gone long. Not with the Grounders out there.

"Hey, everybody, gather around and grab a weapon." Avery ran over and shook her head at Bellamy, silently telling him that she couldn't find his sister, "My sister's been out there alone for 12 hours. Arm up. We're not coming back without her."

Avery looked down nervously at the swords and hatchets. Did she want to help find Octavia? Of course, but she didn't want to have to resort to violence. Or the forest.

"Hey, Jasper, you don't have to do this. You haven't left camp since we brought you back." Clarke said to Jasper,

"Clarke, I need to do this."

"We need all the people we can get." Bellamy said, coming up beside them, "You coming, Peacemaker?" He asked, holding out a knife.

Avery looked up at him nervously, "Bell-"

He stepped closer to her, "A few hours ago, you told me you didn't want to be afraid anymore. This is your chance."

She took the knife from his hands and nodded, "Okay."

"Thatta girl." He smirked down at her before stepping back, "We need a tracker. Finn! Get out here."

Right before they were about to leave, Avery stood by the gate, trying to prepare herself. She needed to go out and find Octavia. For herself. For her mother. For Bellamy.

"Guys, guys. Come here!" Mbege called out and everyone gathered around before looking into the night sky, "Did you see that? Look up there."

"It's so beautiful." Someone commented,

Above them, hundreds of lights streaked across the sky. It was beautiful, yes, but Avery had never seen anything like this before. And that was a bad sign considering she lived in space for 18 years.

"They didn't work." Raven said, walking over to them, "They didn't see the flares."

"A meteor shower tells you that?" Bellamy asked. 

"It's not a meteor shower, it's a funeral." Clarke stated coldly, "Hundreds of bodies being returned to the Earth from The Ark. This is what it looks like from the other side." The blonde turned to Raven, "They didn't get our message."

Raven approached Bellamy, "This is all because of you!" Clarke and Finn held her back while Avery stepped between the two,

"I helped you find the radio." He argued,

"Yeah, after you jacked it from my pod and trashed it!"

Avery pushed her back gently, "Yeah, Raven, he knows. And now, he has to live with it. So calm down."

Bellamy looked back at the sky for a moment, "All I know is that my sister is out there and I'm gonna find her. You coming or what?" He asked Finn,

"Yeah."

"What are we waiting for? Move out!" Bellamy yelled, walking away with a group following.

"We have to talk to them. 300 won't be enough. The oxygen level will just keep dropping. And if we don't tell them that they can survive down here, they'll kill more people. They have to." Clarke said,

"Guys... They're leaving. We gotta go." Jasper stated,

"I gotta do this." Finn said to Raven, "And you should stay and fix the radio, ok?"

"Fix it? The transmitter's smashed. Unless there's a parts depot down here, we're not talking to The Ark."

Clarke and Finn looked at each other, "Art supply store." The blonde said before turning to Raven, "I know a place you might be able to get a transmitter."

"Great. It looks like you're coming with me instead." Raven told her,

Avery took a step forward and gently touched Finn's shoulder, "Finn? We're not gonna find her without you."

"Be careful." Finn told them as he, Avery, and Jasper began to follow Bellamy,

 "Hey." Raven pulled him back and kissed Finn, "I love you."

"I love you, too." He replied, pulling back and glancing at Clarke. Avery looked between the two suspiciously before they followed Bellamy into the woods.