𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

112. return to arkadia

We were headed back home- or what was left of it.

Raven had revealed to us that the reason ALIE had wanted Raven to kill herself, was because she knew why ALIE wanted the second A.I. so bad-it was the only way to stop her.

Therefore, we needed to regroup in Arkadia, find out once and for all how to stop all of this, how to stop ALIE. Our first objective was to find Lincoln's book, which would hopefully lead us to the next Commander. Once she had the Flame, she could stop ALIE.

We hadn't been driving long, but it seemed like everyone in the back of the Rover had fallen asleep.

I sat up front, next to Bellamy who was behind the wheel. My eyes scanned the landscape ahead of us, looking for any sign of danger.

"You look exhausted." Bellamy commented, startling me from my thoughts. He was looking between the road and me, a look of concern on his face.

I shrugged, "I'm okay." I lied, not wanting to reveal the truth. That truth being that I was completely and utterly exhausted.

Ever since I had stopped sleeping in the same bed as Bellamy, I had barely slept. When I did manage to fall asleep, I was plagued with constant nightmares. Without Bellamy there to calm me back to sleep, I often found myself only able to sleep a handful of hours a night.

It truly made me realize how much I relied on Bellamy, how much I needed him.

"You should rest." he advised, not believing the lie that I was okay. "Just close your eyes for a bit."

I shifted in my seat, "No, you need someone awake with you." I muttered, keeping my eyes locked on the road ahead.

Bellamy shook his head. "I'll be okay." he promised, "I'll wake Jasper if I need someone to keep me company."

I looked over to him with the smallest of grins. "You'd prefer Jasper's company over mine?"

"I can hear you." Jasper grumbled from the back, still half asleep it seemed.

I stifled a laugh as Bellamy chuckled beside me. "Go to sleep, Avery." he ordered, "You need it."

I let out a shaky sigh as I rested my head against the window. Bellamy was right, I really did need it.

---

"Becca's journal is amazing." Raven announced, her eyes quickly scanning the pages of the leather faced book in her hands.

It was early morning at this point, the sun just beginning to peak out from beyond the horizon.

Everyone was awake now, and at some point during the night Clarke and I had switched seats. I wasn't exactly sure when, and I assumed I was half asleep when the switch took place.

But now as I sat in the back crammed between Octavia and Raven, I felt more awake than ever. My nerves on edge the closer we got to Arkadia.

"At 26, she found a pathway to access the human mind." Raven flipped the page, lightly running her hand across it. "That same year she had to lock up ALIE because her answer for what was wrong with the world was too many people." She noted the distressed looks on all of our faces as she continued. "She was 27 when it launched the bombs."

Clarke spun around, now intrigued in the conversation. "What did she write about the Flame?"

"ALIE 2.0." Raven answered, "She saw it as a way to atone for her sins. She designed it to not just access human mind, but to merge with it. It couldn't wipe us out because it would be one of us." she explained. "She tried it on herself first, altered her genes so her body wouldn't reject it."