Max surveyed Burnett carefully, pausing before he spoke. “My friend, I appreciate that you have come here under orders. And it is not our intention to cause trouble in any way.” Max shot Bellamy a look over the sea of heads that separated them, his expression unreadable. “But it’s my understanding that the prisoner, as you call him, will not be receiving any sort of just sentence. If he returns to your camp, he will be executed.”
A sea of shocked gasps and whispers rippled over the crowd. An Earthborn woman near Clarke and Bellamy turned to stare at them, taking in their frightened expressions and clasped hands, and her expression changed from confusion to resolve. Three men who’d been standing near Bellamy’s side exchanged glances, then took a few steps so they were standing between Bellamy and the guards. “And we are not in the business of sending young men to their deaths,” Max finished.
Burnett shot an amused look at one of the other guards, and a small smile crept across his face. “It wasn’t a request,” he said. “You understand that there will be consequences to your refusal, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Max replied calmly, though his eyes had grown cold. “You’ve made yourself very clear.” He turned toward the other Earthborns. “I believe I can speak for everyone here when I say that we will not be accomplices to this unjust punishment. But I will allow them to decide.”
There was a long pause. Bellamy felt suddenly queasy as he looked around at the faces of these people—these strangers—who held his fate in their hands. Was it fair to make them decide—to ask them to put their own safety on the line to protect him?
He was steeling himself to rise and surrender himself to Rhodes when Max cleared his throat. “All those in favor of letting our visitors take the boy with him, please raise your hands.”
One of the guards smirked, while the man next to him cracked his knuckles. They were clearly relishing this, eager to watch the Earthborns relinquish Bellamy to his grim fate.
But to Bellamy’s shock, no one raised their arm. “What the…” he whispered as Clarke squeezed his hand.
“All in favor of letting Bellamy, Clarke, and Wells stay here, under our protection?”
Countless hands shot into the air, blocking Max, Burnett, and the other guards from view. Bellamy’s knees began to buckle as an overwhelming tide of gratitude rose within him. The adults back at the Colony had never offered Bellamy so much as a crumb of kindness. Never, not even when he and Octavia were practically starving. But these people were willing to risk everything for him—a total stranger.
That’s what made it worse. These were good people. They didn’t deserve to die for some kid who’d spent nineteen years making nothing but terrible decisions.
Clarke slid her arm around his waist and leaned into him, helping to support his weight.
“It’s okay,” she whispered into his ear.
“No,” Bellamy said under his breath, as much to himself as to her. Then, “No,” he called out, louder. No one heard him over the clamor in the room. Except Clarke and Wells. Clarke’s hand fell away from him, and she and Wells stared at him in confusion.
“Bellamy!” Clarke said, her eyes wide. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t just stand here and let all these innocent people put their asses on the line for me. They have kids; they have families. They don’t need this shit.”
Wells stepped forward and put a firm hand on Bellamy’s shoulder. “Hey,” he said. “Hey, just relax.” Bellamy tried to shake free of Wells’s grasp, but Wells wouldn’t let him. “Bellamy, I get it. You’re not used to accepting help. But this isn’t Confinement for selling stolen goods at the Exchange. This is the death penalty. Rhodes is going to kill you.”
Bellamy leaned over and put his hands on his knees. He took a few deep, steadying breaths. He knew that Max and Sasha’s people believed in something bigger than themselves. He had seen it in their kindness toward each other, in the way they welcomed three strangers into their lives. He had seen it in Max’s leadership. But he didn’t know how he could ever bear the burden of their generosity.
Clarke took Bellamy’s hand again and looked into his eyes. “Even if you won’t do it for you, will you do it for me? Please?” Her voice was trembling, and something in Bellamy’s chest shifted. He’d never heard her sound so vulnerable, so scared. He’d never heard her beg anyone for anything. Anything she wanted, she went after herself. But that wouldn’t be enough this time. She needed help.
“And for me.” Wells clapped his hand on Bellamy’s good shoulder.
Bellamy turned from Clarke to Wells. How had this happened? When he and Octavia had left the Colony, it’d been them against the universe. And now he had people who cared about him. He had a family.
“Okay,” he said with a nod, fighting back the tears threatening to make an appearance. He forced a smile. “But just this one time. Next time I’m sentenced to death for being a hotheaded idiot, you have to let them take me.”
“Deal,” Wells said, stepping back with a grin.
“No way. You’re my hotheaded idiot.” Clarke rose onto her toes and kissed him. Bellamy wrapped his arm around her and kissed her back, too moved to be embarrassed by the prickle of tears in his eyes.
CHAPTER 17: Glass
Glass shoved the cabin door open with her shoulder. Both her hands were full, one with a bucket of water from the river, the other with a sack of berries she’d found growing nearby. She dropped the food on the uneven wooden table and carried the water over to the basin. Without having to think about it, Glass reached up and took down a small bowl from the shelf. After just two days, she was already so comfortable in their little house that it felt as if she and Luke had been settled there forever.
Their first morning in the cabin, they had stepped outside cautiously, scanning for signs of Earthborns. But there was no hint of any other human life. Slowly their comfort and confidence grew, and they trekked a few meters away in an attempt to find food.
They were both so focused on their search, they almost didn’t notice a deer grazing nearby. Glass raised her head to call Luke over, and just before his name left her lips, she saw it, standing just feet from her. It was young—was there a special name for a baby deer? Glass strained to remember—and so beautiful. Its soft brown muzzle twitched as it sniffed the air, and its wide brown eyes were sweet and sad. Glass was afraid to move, for fear of scaring it away. She wanted Luke to see it too, but she couldn’t make a sound. She and the deer stared at each other for a long moment, until finally Luke turned and saw it. He froze. She could tell from the look on his face that he was as awestruck by the animal as she was.
The three of them stood there, locked in a silent exchange. Finally, a distant rustle in the trees sent the deer bolting off into the woods with barely a sound. Glass let out a sigh as it disappeared. “That was incredible,” she said.
“Yeah,” Luke agreed, but his expression was serious.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, surprised at his reaction.
“It’s just—if we don’t find something to eat, we’re going to have to, you know…” He trailed off.
Glass’s heart sank. She had been so transfixed by the deer’s expressive eyes; she hadn’t stopped to think that she might be forced to eat it. The thought made her stomach turn. “Let’s not worry about that now,” she said. “Just keep looking.”
Luckily they’d found the berries, and so far they’d been okay. But she knew deep down it was only a matter of time before something changed. They were running low on water-purifying tablets, and there was no pot in the house that would enable them to boil any water. There were weird bugs that scuttled across the floor in the predawn hours, waking Glass from a dead sleep and giving her goose bumps. Luke just laughed at her as she scooted closer to him and pulled the blankets tighter over them both. And there had been the constant, nagging worry about what would happen next. Would they be able to stay here? Could it really be that simple? She remembered learning about Earth seasons—the pretty fall leaves meant that, soon enough, winter would come, and they’d have to figure out how to survive the cold. She did her best to push those thoughts away, though. Winter was a worry for another day. Today she just wanted to live out the fairy tale, in their fantasy cabin under the tall canopy of trees.