4 months ago
The Ark

I could feel the clock ticking against me as I hurried through the halls of Alpha Station. Beads of sweat coated my forehead as I kept my eyes down. The pistol hidden away in my jacket rubbed against my side as I turned the corner that led to Jaha's office. I stopped outside his door, breathing deeply as I wondered if I could actually kill him. Could I really pull the trigger? Would Diana Sydney follow through with her word? I had no idea what I was doing. My mind was clouded with the single thought that this was the only way to save my father from being floated in twenty minutes. 

With one last shaky breath, I knocked on his door. My heart pounded as it opened. Jaha greeted me, and I stepped inside, "If you're here to ask me to pardon your father again, I've already said-"

"I'm not here for that," I answered as I faced him. "You've made it clear that no matter what, you're going to kill an innocent man without even giving him a trial."

Jaha sighed, "He had a knife, Harley."

"That someone planted on him!" I exclaimed. "This is all Diana's big plot. Don't you see that?"

"Okay, well tell me the name of the person framing him, and we can have a trial," Jaha saw that I didn't know the name. "Harley, I want to save your father, but with no proof of what you're saying, there's nothing I can do."

Realizing Jaha wouldn't budge, I felt a heavy weight on my chest as I slowly began to move my hand towards the gun, "I understand."

Then, before my fingertips even touched the gun, the door of the Chancellor's office slid openly briskly as guards filed into the room. They came at me, grabbing me without explanation as I struggled against them.

"What is the meaning of this?" I heard the Chancellor ask.

My gaze hardened when I saw Diana Sydney walking into the room behind the guards with a smug look on her face, "Check her jacket."

One of the guards reached into my jacket, pulling out the pistol Diana gave to me. I shook my head as Jaha looked at me with disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me," I told her angrily. "She's the one who gave me the gun! She wants you dead, Jaha, all so she can become Chancellor again!"

"Oh, you poor girl," Diana said with fake sympathy. "You're so desperate to save your father. You'll say anything to prove his innocence, even though everyone knows he's guilty."

Jaha examined the gun before turning to where the guards drug me to my feet, "Guards, take Harley Winters to the SkyBox."

"No," I let out as the guards dragged me away. My eyes locked with Diana Sydney as she stood beside the Chancellor, grinning slightly. Anger, desperation, and denial took over my body as I realized my father was going to die. "I'll never forgive you for this, Jaha! You son of a bitch! I hate you!" 

And then, after fighting the guards the whole way, almost getting away several times, I was thrown into a cell with tears streaming down my face. I kicked the wall in anger, letting out a scream of blinding emotion so loud the entire SkyBox heard. It echoed through the walls, and I sank to the ground with my head in my hands. 

――――

The distant image of the memory of how I ended up in the SkyBox haunted my mind as I woke up. I looked around in the tent I shared with Kate, Archie, and Miller, finding that I was the only one still inside. I pulled myself to my feet, yawning as I exited the tent. The camp was already full of morning chatter as people walked around talking. I saw a couple making out in the open across from our tent. I shook my head as the guy grabbed the girl's breast literally right in front of my face.

I ignored the explicit make out session happening as I walked towards the dropship, seeing Archie and Miller talking right outside of it. A group of riled up boys flew past me as they played an intense game of capture the flag. I heard a low thumping coming from the other side of camp as several people had gathered up buckets to use as drums. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits, but I thought about the five people that had left camp yesterday. Had they found any food yet? My stomach grumbled, aching for anything to eat.

I spotted Wells walking up to the dropship with clothes in his hands. He glanced at me as he passed, but one of Bellamy's asshole followers, Atom, stepped forward. He motioned to the clothes in Wells's hands. 

"Hey, where'd you get the clothes?"

"Buried the two kids who died during the landing," Wells replied as Atom walked up to him. 

I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched, ready to step in if Atom tried to hurt Wells, "Smart," Atom said. "You know, I'll take it from here."

He tried to reach for the clothes, but Wells stepped back, "We share based on need. Just like back home."

A deep voice came from the dropship, "You still don't get it, do you, Chancellor?"

 I turned my head, my hazel eyes widening when I saw Bellamy standing there, and he was very shirtless. I noticed that his freckles were not limited to his face. A thin coat of sweat covered his chest, and my eyes quickly flickered over his very toned abs. A pistol sat peeking out of his pants. Why did that make everything even hotter? 

Then, a small flame of anger built up in the pit of my stomach when I spotted the girl with him. She did not have a shirt on; just a grey sports bra. The flame of anger was ignited when she reached over and gave him a kiss before walking away. 

Well, that was just rude. 

I was his girlfriend, who he was supposed to be super in love with or something, and he had a one night stand the very first night on the ground? I wasn't jealous, only feeling confused. Yeah, definitely not jealous. 

"This is home now," Bellamy said as his eyes landed on me for a moment before he sauntered down to stand in front of Wells. "Your father's rules no longer apply." He grabbed a shirt from Wells, glancing at me again with a smirk on his face. "Morning, princess. Sleep well?"

"Fuck you, Blake," I commented.

He grinned, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you already did that."

Oh, he was just asking for it. I wanted to slap him so hard, but Wells trying to jump at Bellamy to get the shirt back grabbed my attention. 

 Atom held him back, "No, Atom, hold up," Bellamy said. "You want it back?" He asked as he dangled the shirt in the air. "Take it."

Wells gave up as he tossed the clothes to the ground. People quickly grabbed what they could as Wells looked at Bellamy, "Is this what you want?" He asked. "Chaos?"

"What's wrong with a little chaos?"

Then, as if the universe wanted to prove Bellamy wrong, a loud scream came from the other side of camp. Bellamy and I locked eyes with concern on our faces as he pulled the blue shirt over his head. We rushed to the other side of camp with Wells close behind us. 

Why was I not surprised? Murphy was holding a girl right above a fire as she struggled against him. A crowd had gathered around him, "Bellamy. Check it out. We want the Ark to think that the ground is killing us, right? Figure, it'll look better if we suffer a bit first."

I didn't hesitate to step in, despite Bellamy and Wells both trying to stop me. I stepped forward, shoving him away from the girl, "Let her go, Murphy!"

He fell to the ground, standing up with anger on his face, "You're asking for it, Winters."

Murphy took a step closer to me, but a hint of fear flickered in his eyes when Bellamy stepped in front of me, "I think you and I both know what would happen if you ever touched her," he said in a threatening tone.

Murphy backed off as Wells looked at both of us. He motioned to the girl standing up, who had scratches on her face, "You can stop this."

"Stop this?" Bellamy asked. "I'm just getting started."

Then, Murphy charged at Wells out of nowhere, punching him right in the jaw. Wells stumbled, and I tried to jump in, but Bellamy grabbed my arm, "Harley, no."

"Fight! Fight!" The chanting broke out. Why did they like watching fights so much?

I tried to get out of his grasp as the fight continued, but Bellamy grabbed me with both hands, "Let go of me, Bellamy!"

"I know you like getting into trouble, Harley, but you're sitting this one out."

Why was he so good at pissing me off? I continued to struggle against him until Wells had Murphy pinned down. He gave him one last good punch before standing up and turning around with his eyes on Bellamy.

"Don't you see you can't control this?" 

Murphy, of course, was a sore loser and couldn't accept being beaten. He must have had a knife made from the metal of the dropship on his belt because two seconds later, there was one in his hand.

"You're dead," he sneered at Wells.

Thankfully, Bellamy stepped in between the two of them, "Wait," he said. I started to think he was going to tell Murphy to stop, but then, he pulled out his own knife. "Fair fight."

What? No way. Bellamy dropped the knife on the ground in front of Wells. This was exactly what Murphy wanted, and I was fed up with all of it. I watched with clenched fists. Wells was stronger than Murphy. I had confidence that he could win this fight, but Murphy always fought dirty, so I was ready to step in if I had to.

They circled each other for a few seconds as Murphy jabbed his knife at Wells a few times, but he was unsuccessful. My breath hitched as he cut Wells's arm, "This is for my father!" Murphy exclaimed as he jumped at Wells.

Wells was able to grab Murphy's arm and twist it. He turned Muprhy around with his own knife right on Murphy's neck, "Drop it!" Wells yelled. 

"Wells!" Every head turned to find Clarke walking down into the clearing. She had her eyes trained on Wells as she walked up to him with purpose in her stride. "Let him go!"

Wells immediately let go of Murphy, shoving him to the ground. Murphy tried to charge at Wells again, but Bellamy stepped in, grabbed his shoulders and speaking in a commanding voice. "Enough, Murphy!"

My eyes left the scene full of annoying testosterone as I scanned the group. Clarke, Finn, Monty, Octavia, but no Jasper. I saw Octavia limping as Monty helped her stand. She had an angry injury on her leg that looked like a huge bite mark.

Bellamy let go of Murphy when he saw his sister. He rushed over to her side,  "Octavia. Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said through a wince. 

He put his strong arms on her sides as he helped her sit down, "Where's the food?" He questioned as his eyes darted between Clarke and Finn.

"We didn't make it to Mount Weather," Finn admitted with tired breaths. 

"What the hell happened out there?" Bellamy asked with force in his tone.

"We were attacked," Clarke blurted out.

"Attacked?" Wells asked with confusion. "By what?"

Finn shook his head, "Not what... who," So there were other people on the ground? How? There was no way they could have survived. "Turns out the last man from the ground who died on the Ark wasn't the last grounder."

The news sank into the group, "It's true," Clarke said. "Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here; survivors."

"How is that even possible?" I asked, finally speaking up.

"I don't know," Clarke answered. "But the good news is that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."

"Yeah, the bad news is, the grounders will," Finn said, glancing around. 

"Okay, thanks for the information, but where the hell is Jasper?" I demanded. 

Clarke looked at me, "Jasper was hit. They took him."

What? No, we had to go find him. I was about to say so, but then Clarke's eyes traveled to Wells's wrist, where his wristband was missing. I just noticed also, knowing Wells would never take it off willingly. I looked at Bellamy. He must have done it. 

"Where's your wristband?"

Wells shot Bellamy and I a heated look, "Ask them."

Clarke gave me a betrayed look as her eyes landed on Bellamy, "How many?"

Murphy stepped forward, "Twenty-four and counting."

"You idiots," Clarke breathed as she looked around. "Life support on the Ark is failing!" She announced. "That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off your wristbands you're not just killing them! You're killing us!"

A few seconds of silence fell on the group. The circle of teenagers looked around at each other, and then, Bellamy walked forward, "We're stronger than you think," he began, grabbing the attention of everyone with ease. "Don't listen to her she's one of the privileged. If they come down, she'll have it good. How many of you can say the same?"

I admired how much Bellamy inspired everyone, and he did it naturally. The words he said stuck with each and every person in a way that Clarke didn't seem to be able to do herself. 

"We can take care of ourselves," Bellamy continued. "That wristband on your arm? It makes you a prisoner, and we are not prisoners anymore!" Several people nodded in agreement. "They say they'll forgive your crimes. I say, you're not criminals! You're fighters! Survivors!" he turned back to Clarke. 'The grounders should worry about us!"

"Yeah!" The crowd yelled back causing Clarke to shake her head and walk away.

I wondered if she and Monty were planning on going back out there to look for Jasper. If she was, I definitely would be going with them. I began to walk in the direction she disappeared, but I felt Bellamy's strong grip on my arm. 

"Hey," he said lowly. "You need to stay away from Murphy. He's too unstable."

I ripped my arm away from him, "Yeah, you can forget telling me what to do. I do what I want, and honestly Bellamy, you seem too busy acting like an asshole and sleeping around to run this camp."

He met my tone with equal force, "What does it even matter to you? I thought as far as you're concerned, I'm not your boyfriend. Isn't that what you said?" I clenched my jaw remembering that those were my exact words. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"You know, I'm starting to have a hard time believing you actually ever loved me like people say," I fired out, immediately regretting my words as his eyes bloomed with hurt. 

"I loved you more than you'll ever know, Harley," his voice was full of emotion as he spoke. I saw the words he wanted to say in his gaze: I still do. But the words never left his lips. "But, you can believe what you want."

I was about to shoot back another snappy remark, but then, I noticed something. Poking out from his shirt was the black pearl necklace I thought I lost, "Why the hell do you have this?" I asked angrily as I grabbed the necklace. "My mother gave this to me. It's all I have left of her!"

"I know," he reached behind him and undid the clasp. He opened my palm and set it down on my hand roughly. "You gave it to me, but I guess there's no point in having it anymore."

He stormed away, and I looked down at the necklace on my palm. Bellamy's words stung a place deep down inside of my heart. There it was again; my body reacting to him like I loved him, but my mind not being up to pace. 

I ignored the hurt feeling in my heart as I put on my necklace. Then, I went to find Clarke to tell her I was going to find Jasper with or without anyone's help.

――――――
well, there's tension builing
between harley and bellamy
i know several of you were scared
that bellamy would still sleep with other people
but it makes sense for him to because
he lashes out when he's hurt or angry
and harley forgetting him made him hurt a lot
so sleeping with that girl is how he lashed out.