Kass Morgan - Homecoming

“To keep Earth from being overrun by assholes like you,” the Earthborn said calmly. “Get out of here!” he called over his shoulder to Bellamy.

Bellamy backed slowly toward the door. More Colonists gathered behind Burnett, guns raised. Bellamy turned to run. He heard two sharp pops, then the dull thud as two bodies dropped to the ground. He gasped but stumbled forward. Just as he wrapped his fingers around the handle of the bunker door, a voice called after him.

“We have your sister.”

Bellamy froze. His chest constricted, as if Burnett’s words had formed a noose around his neck. “What are you going to do to her?” he asked as he turned around slowly, his voice strangled.

“For a boy so fixated on protecting his sister, it didn’t take much for you to leave her behind, did it?”

“She had a life there,” Bellamy said slowly, unsure if he was talking more to Burnett or to himself. “She was starting to know what it meant to be happy.”

Burnett smirked. “And now she knows what it means to be under arrest.”

White-hot anger surged through Bellamy’s veins. “She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Don’t worry. We haven’t hurt her… yet. But I suggest you come along with me, quietly. Or else I won’t be able to do anything to assure Ms. Blake’s safety.”

Bellamy winced at the image forming in his mind. Octavia shackled in the prison cabin, just like he’d been. Her tear-stained face gaunt and pale as she cried out for help, cried out for the brother who’d left her alone with the enemy after swearing to keep her safe.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Bellamy asked, stalling for time while he tried to figure out his next step.

Burnett raised an eyebrow, then turned and let out a shrill whistle. Moments later, he was answered by the stomp of boots and a muffled cry. Four guards appeared from behind the trees, dragging two figures between them. For the briefest moment, Bellamy was relieved to see that neither was Octavia.

But then a fresh wave of cold horror ran down his spine.

They had Clarke and Wells.

Each was flanked by two guards. Their hands were bound tightly behind their backs, and someone had placed gags over their mouths. Clarke’s eyes were darting back and forth wildly, wide and blazing with fear and fury. Wells was thrashing from side to side, desperately trying to escape his captors’ grip.

“So what I need you to do,” Burnett said, “is come with us. Otherwise, you’ll force us to do something we don’t want to do.” Like hell you don’t , you sadistic bastard , Bellamy thought.

His eyes locked on Clarke’s. They held each other’s gaze for a long moment. She shook her head ever so slightly, and he knew what she meant. Don’t do it. Don’t give yourself up for us.

But it was too late. Rhodes and Burnett had won. There was no way Bellamy was going to put Clarke and Wells in any more danger. They’d already risked far too much for him.

“Let them go,” Bellamy said as he dropped his bow and started walking, hands raised, toward Burnett. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

Burnett’s men lunged forward and grabbed Bellamy by the elbows, then quickly restrained his hands.

“I think we’ll take all of you,” Burnett said.

The guards shoved Bellamy next to Clarke and Wells. He could feel the warmth of Clarke’s body next to his, and he shifted his weight so their arms brushed together. Burnett signaled his men to move out, and they pushed Bellamy, Clarke, and Wells toward the path.

They walked single file, Bellamy behind Clarke and in front of Wells. Despite the awkwardness of walking with her hands bound, Clarke’s chin was held high and her shoulders were thrown back. She’s fearless , Bellamy thought, feeling a surge of admiration despite the grim circumstances. The weird thing was, Bellamy didn’t feel afraid either. He’d done the right thing. No one else was going to die on his behalf, and if that meant his final hours were fast approaching, then so be it. He would rather face a thousand bullets that night than spend another day wondering who else would end up suffering because of him.

He craned his head back to look at the stars glittering in the patches between the leaves. The years he’d spent living in space were starting to feel like a dream. This was his home now. This was where he belonged.

“Hope you’re enjoying the view,” Burnett called from behind him. “Your execution is set for dawn.”

This was where he was going to die.

Nothing about Earth seemed beautiful anymore. Every mile of tree-covered land was simply another mile she’d have to cross in order to save Luke, who was growing weaker by the moment.

Maybe we should have just died up there, with the rest of the Colony, she thought grimly. Maybe we never should have come here at all. But no, she wouldn’t allow them to die this way either: alone and terrified. Luke twitched in his sleep. She stood up, her legs shaky beneath her. Glass ran her hand down his stubbly cheek and touched his lips. The thought of his body shutting down made her chest seize with sadness. How could Earth just go on existing if Luke were gone? How could she? No. She couldn’t just let him fade away out here in the woods. She owed him more than that.

With every meter, Glass grew more adept at traveling this way, but as her muscles grew sore and her mind grew tired, she worried more and more that she was moving in the wrong direction. The compass told her she was heading south, but nothing looked familiar. Had they passed this way at all?

By midday, Glass was soaked in sweat. Her back ached, and her limbs were shaky with exhaustion. She had no idea how much farther it would be to camp. She had to rest. She stopped, pulled the harness over her head and nudged the sled up against a tree. Luke grunted in pain and stirred. She knelt down to his side.

“Hey,” she whispered, dropping a kiss on his forehead.

She could feel with her lips that he was still burning up. He’d had a fever for days. A wave of uncertainty crashed down on her again. How could she do this? How could she get him all the way back by herself? She was barely strong enough to lift him, let alone hold him up and fend off violent predators. If they were attacked again, she knew it would be the last time.

Glass stood with her hands on her hips and looked up at the sky. She exhaled slowly, trying to bring down her heart rate. She could do this. She had to do this. As she summoned her strength, her eyes ran down the trunk of the tree behind the sled. A few feet above her head, she saw something—an indentation paler than the ridged wood around it. Glass stood on her tiptoes and strained her neck to see. She squinted and pushed herself up as high as she could go. When she finally grasped what she was looking at, she let out a gasp of surprise, then laughed out loud right there in the forest, with no one but an unconscious Luke to hear her. In the middle of a landscape so wild and untouched it was as if people had never even walked the Earth, there was a message, carved into the bark by a human hand. She just could just make it out: R S .

It was as if a voice had reached out of the past to whisper to her, telling her everything would be all right. R and S had loved each other, right here under this tree, where Glass now fought for the boy she loved. Under other circumstances, she and Luke could have carved their initials just like them. But who were R and S, and how long ago had they sat here together? Were they young or old? First love, or old married couple? Maybe it was a couple from before the Cataclysm, who probably didn’t survive. People who probably didn’t know the extent of the horrors that awaited the human race. All they knew was that they loved each other enough to leave behind a symbol of their affection for generations to come. The sight of that long-forgotten emblem stirred something in Glass’s chest. This couple could never have known that one day a girl from space would stumble upon their carving. Would it have mattered to them? Probably not. Their love was all they cared about. All they should have cared about.