There was silence as, presumably, the guard complied with Wells’s order. A few seconds later, two figures burst through the cabin door—a stony-faced, iron-jawed Wells and a flushed, rapidly-breathing Clarke. They fell into the room and rushed over to him, as Bellamy’s head swam with confusion and relief. Were they actually here to rescue him? How the hell had they managed that?
Bellamy’s chest swelled with a feeling he’d never really known before—gratitude. No one had ever done anything this dangerous for him, no one had ever thought he was worth that kind of risk. He’d spent his whole life taking reckless action to protect Octavia, but no one had ever done so much as transfer him a ration point or sneak out past curfew to check on him the few times he’d gotten sick.
Yet here they were, the girl he never would’ve dared dream about back on the ship, and the brother he never knew existed, putting their lives on the line for him.
Clarke sank to her knees next to him. “Bellamy,” she said, her voice cracking as she ran her hand along his cheek. “Are you okay?” She’d never sounded so afraid, so fragile. Yet there was nothing vulnerable about a girl who’d face down a clearing full of armed guards.
Bellamy nodded, then winced as Wells tugged on the cuffs attached to the peg on the wall. “How are you going to get those off?” Bellamy asked, his voice hoarse. The guard outside would alert the others any second. If they didn’t get out of there fast, not a single one of them would live to see another sunset.
“Don’t worry,” Wells said. “She has the key.”
Clarke reached into her pocket and pulled out a slim key, made of the same flexible metal as the cuffs.
“How the hell did you—you know what? Forget it. I don’t want to know,” Bellamy said. “Just get them off.”
Wells took the key from Clarke and began fumbling with the restraints while Clarke switched back into doctor mode and quickly examined his shoulder, muttering to herself as she peeled back the blood-stained bandage. Bellamy couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and a thin sheen of sweat misted her face, but she’d never looked more beautiful.
“Got it,” Wells said as the cuffs sprang open. “Let’s go.” He reached down, wrapped an arm behind Bellamy, and hauled him to his feet. Clarke slipped under Bellamy’s other arm, and helped him hurry across the cabin. When they reached the door, Clarke held up her hand and signaled for them to wait while she listened for sounds outside. At first, Bellamy wasn’t sure what they were waiting for, but then he heard it. A loud crash and series of cries echoed from the far side of the clearing, followed by shouts of “We’re under attack!” and “Guards—fall in!”
A stampede of heavy footsteps thudded past the cabin, toward the commotion.
Clarke turned to Wells and grinned. “She did it! Go, Sasha.”
“What’d she do?” Bellamy asked as he leaned a little harder on Wells. He hadn’t walked in days, and his muscles felt like jelly.
“She rigged up something in the trees to make it sound like the Earthborns were attacking the camp. If everything goes according to plan, Rhodes will have sent all the guards into the woods, and we’ll be able to sneak out the other side.”
“Your girl’s pretty badass, Wells,” Bellamy said with a weak smile. “Will she be okay?”
“She’ll be fine. She’s far enough out in the woods that they’ll never get to her in time.”
Clarke listened at the door for another moment, then waved at them urgently. “Let’s move.”
They slipped out the door. The coast was clear—everyone in camp was facing the other direction or racing toward the commotion on the far side. Bellamy, Clarke, and Wells hurried around the back of the cabin and, before anyone could notice they were gone, disappeared into the cover of the woods.
CHAPTER 14
Wells
There was no sound except the sharp intake of breath and the crunch of twigs and dried leaves under their feet. Wells, Bellamy, and Clarke had run until their sides cramped, eventually slowing to a walk. Wells glanced over his shoulder to check on Bellamy, whose shoulder was clearly hurting him, although he refused to complain, and who seemed much more anxious about Octavia than he was about his injury.
“You’re sure she doesn’t think I abandoned her?” Bellamy said as he allowed Clarke to help him step over a moss-covered log blocking their path.
“Positive,” Wells said, glad he could provide at least that modicum of comfort. “We told her the plan, and she agreed that it was better for someone to remain at the camp and keep tabs on Rhodes for a while.”
“She would’ve come if it weren’t for the kids,” Clarke chimed in. “She’s the only one who’s looking after them. It’s really amazing, what she’s done.”
Wells watched as pride momentarily chased away the fear in Bellamy’s face. “I always knew she had it in her.”
“Where did Sasha say she’d meet us?” Clarke asked, scanning the trees nervously. Although she and Bellamy had stumbled across Mount Weather once before, Wells knew neither of them were confident about finding it again.
“She’ll find us,” Wells said.
There was a rustling in the tree ahead of them, and a moment later, a figure dropped down from the branches, landing silently on her feet.
“Okay, that was kinda creepy,” Wells said with a grin as Sasha walked toward them. He still hadn’t gotten used to how Sasha managed to blend in with her surroundings. It was almost as if she changed color, like the lizards he’d read about when he was a kid. But she didn’t, of course—it was something about the way she breathed, her stillness. She just became part of the woods.
He pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her long dark hair that always smelled like rain and cedar. “Thank you for your help,” he said, cupping his hand under her chin and raising it for a kiss. “That was amazing.”
“Does that mean it worked?” Sasha asked, breaking away to look from Wells to Clarke and Bellamy.
“It worked perfectly,” Wells said.
“So what’s the plan now?” Bellamy asked, clearly in pain. His face was pale, and his breathing had grown ragged.
“I’m taking you all back to Mount Weather with me,” Sasha said. “You can stay there as long as you need.”