Rebellion (The 100 #4)(49)

In the forest, they emptied out the sacks, hiding the weapons underneath the brush, then hurried back to the armory for more. They did this four times, as stealthily as they could in order to avoid detection, until there were only a few weapons left.

On their last trip in, as they loaded up their bags, a faint, melodic sound drifted toward them. Both Luke and Bellamy froze, like the deer sometimes did when they spotted Bellamy with his bow drawn, arrow locked in place. Someone was singing.

Let’s go, Luke mouthed, starting to inch back toward the opening.

But Bellamy felt himself being pulled the other way, toward the warped metal door that was too bent to close properly, light streaming through the gaps. Silently, he crept up to the door and peered out.

Two girls with braided hair and white tunics were walking down a hallway, singing while they carried a large silver platter between them.


When Earth was just a maiden fair

A goddess with white clouds for hair

She wished upon the stars above

For a child She could fill with love



Their strangely blank expressions and oddly harmonious voices sent chills down Bellamy’s spine. What the hell was going on here? But as the girls came closer, his uneasiness turned to alarm. He knew one of them. It was Lina, the Earthborn girl from Max’s village. One of the people who’d been taken.

He willed her to glance at the door so he could motion to her. If he could only catch her attention, he could get her out of there. But she continued to stare straight ahead, her eyes wide and unfocused.

As they drifted past, a short, scowling man stormed into the corridor. “What took you so long? The Protectors are waiting for their dinner,” he snapped.

The second girl smiled. “The kitchen is far from the barracks,” she said dreamily.

“Well, try to speed it up next time.”

“If Earth wills it,” the girl said.

“If Earth wills it,” Lina echoed.

What the…

Bellamy turned away, scooped up his bag, then nodded at Luke and crawled back through the hole. When he stood up, blinking in the moonlight, he found that he was shaking.

“What happened?” Luke asked. “What did you see in there?”

“I saw Lina,” Bellamy said breathlessly as they both hurried back into the safety of the woods. “You know, the Earthborn girl.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “Was she okay? Was anyone else with her? Did you see any sign of Glass?”

“She was with another girl I didn’t recognize, but, Luke, there is something really, really strange going on there. I think…” He paused, not wanting to say the words aloud, afraid of what it’d mean for Octavia and the others. “I think they’ve been brainwashed.”

He explained what he’d seen, watching Luke’s jaw tighten and his eyes narrow.

“Thank goodness they’re alive, though. We’ll get them out of there,” Luke said quietly. “No matter what it takes.” He clenched and unclenched his fists. “Did you get any sense of the layout?”

“I’m pretty sure the armory is next to the guards’ barracks. The girls were bringing food in from the kitchen, which they said was far away.”

“Okay… okay… that’s good,” Luke said. “We know what area to hit if we need to.” He let out a long breath, as if he’d been holding it for a while. “Should we go tell the others?”

Bellamy hoisted his grenade-filled bag over his shoulder. Suddenly, confronting Clarke and Paul seemed like child’s play compared to what they would have to do afterward. “Let’s go.”





CHAPTER 26


Clarke


The forest was so quiet, it felt as though it was holding its breath.

It had only been an hour since Clarke had relieved Felix and taken his place at the lookout point. But each minute was piling onto the next like a weight bearing down on her, heavier and heavier. Cooper should’ve been back by now. It shouldn’t have taken the whole day for him to talk to the raiders.

She didn’t want to think about the possibility, but maybe it had all gone wrong.

Clarke stretched as best she could, without creeping too far out of position, trying to wring the thick worry out of her limbs. There was no sense in panicking. She would just have to wait and hope.

A twig cracked behind her. Clarke glanced quickly back. There was no one there. She took a deep breath, trying to quiet her racing heart. She wasn’t doing anyone any good by waiting here. It would make more sense for her to go look for Cooper, in case he needed backup. Whatever that meant in this case.

She crept toward the edge of the forest that bordered the fortress, wondering whether to ignore the prickle on the back of her neck. Bellamy had had feelings like that, and his instincts turned out to be right. But Clarke wasn’t like that. Her whole life had been about learning to trust her brain instead of her heart. That’s what they’d taught her during her medical training. That’s what her parents had impressed on her when she’d confronted them about their gruesome experiments. She had to think in terms of the “big picture” and the “larger good,” even when her gut was shouting something far different.

It grew brighter as she approached the edge of the forest, and the trees cast long, strange shadows in the moonlight. A shape emerged, the silhouette of a person. Clarke’s breath caught in her chest and she froze, unsure whether to dash for a tree or stay perfectly still.