Rebellion (The 100 #4)(43)

He longed to watch her as she walked away, but Bellamy forced his eyes into the forest instead, holding them open so everything became painfully sharp and bright, his emotions taking a backseat to the stark realities before him.

In the forest, something moved—a person. Bellamy tensed; then he released a breath. Luke stepped out from behind a tree, lifting his hand in greeting.

Bellamy nodded, then glanced over at Jessa. She was meant to be guarding him, but instead the two of them had been trying to figure out a way to enact his plan. Jessa gave the area a quick scan, listening for voices—Paul, Clarke, or Vale—approaching. Satisfied they were alone, she beckoned toward Luke, who tiptoed over and crouched next to Bellamy.

“How you bearing up?” Luke whispered.

“Oh, I’m just great.” Bellamy tried for a shrug, but his arms wouldn’t move that far. “This is how I spend all my Saturdays.”

Luke grinned briefly before his face fell serious again.

Bellamy swallowed. “Did you find it?”

“I did,” Luke said, his eyes flashing bright.

Bellamy sat up a little, wincing from the pain in his back. Luke reached out to help adjust him, but Bellamy shook his head, handling it himself.

“I left just after Cooper and Vale,” Luke went on in a whisper. “Felix relieved me at my post and told Paul I’d gone to rest in the campsite. Cooper and Vale didn’t notice me trailing them. I waited until Cooper caught the raiders’ attention and then I went to where you told me. I found the ammunitions store quickly… maybe too quickly. Bellamy, they’re bound to notice it’s caved open soon.”

“I know,” Bellamy said darkly. “Did you go in?”

“I thought I’d wait for you,” Luke said with a smirk. “I’d hate for you to miss all the fun.”

“Okay,” Bellamy said, the gears in his mind finally starting to whir back to life. “Who’s guarding me tonight?”

“If it’s not Jessa, we’ll make sure it’s Jessa,” Luke said.

At the mention of her name, Jessa glanced casually over her shoulder, flashing a quick blink of acknowledgment. Bellamy smiled grimly back.

“We’d let you go now, man, if we didn’t think it would sabotage the rest of our plans.” Luke sighed.

“I know,” Bellamy said quickly. “I wouldn’t want you to. And anyway, free range of arm motion is hugely overrated.”

“You’ll need to limber up fast once we spring you tonight, though,” Luke said dryly. “We’ll need every set of arms we can get.”

“Who have we got?”

“Me, you, and Felix,” Luke said. “Jessa’s going to stay behind to keep them from stopping us.”

“Why would they care?” Bellamy asked. “We’re not going to interfere with the negotiations. This is just a… backup plan.”

He heard low voices behind them again, over the wall in the campsite. Paul was offering Clarke food, cracking jokes about his foraging skills, and she kept trying to change the subject back to next steps.

Next steps. Diplomacy.

Bellamy swallowed around a pit in his throat.

They weren’t doing nothing, exactly, were they? Plan A was moving forward. Clarke still held out hope for a peaceful resolution. Was she right? Was he being reckless, after all?

Sensing him waver, Luke leaned forward. “We’ve got a good shot here. And a really short window for it.”

Bellamy shook his head, thinking. “Cooper got inside, though, unharmed. Vale said so.”

Luke snorted. “That just means these bastards have one more of us locked inside their compound.”

“But what if it means more than that? What if ”—Bellamy nodded behind him, unable to say her name—“their plan is working?”

“Then we’ll still have taken away all the munitions in the meantime. We’ll have an even greater advantage… a bargaining chip. Win-win, right?”

“Right.” Bellamy frowned. It was strange. The whole journey here, he’d pictured Octavia’s and Wells’s faces as clearly as if they were standing right in front of him, begging him for help. But now that he had a plan, all he could see was Clarke, the hurt in her eyes last night, the expression on her face when he drove her away.

He imagined something even worse now: the look she would have tonight when she realized he was gone. The realization that, in the end, he’d betrayed her for what might be the final time without even bothering to say good-bye.

He closed his eyes, sorrow welling in his chest. He’d been wrong to accuse her of not caring. Even more wrong to think of her as a coward. Clarke would always be one of the fiercest people he’d ever known, and here she was, standing up for what she thought was right.

“Listen, man,” Luke was saying to him, rocking back onto his heels with a heavy sigh. “If you’re getting cold feet, if you don’t think this is the right thing…”

Bellamy opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Luke let out a frustrated huff, his fists balling by his sides.

“No, screw that.” Luke shook his head. “I’m sorry, Bel, I am, but your plan is the best one we’ve got. And Glass is in there.” His cheeks grew mottled, his red-rimmed eyes welling fast. “She’s in there. I’ve got to get her out.”